REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said he wished he
were not the world's richest man.
"I wish I wasn't. There is nothing good that comes out of that,"
said Gates, whose personal fortune has sunk by billions since last week when the
software giant disappointed investors by saying new investments would crimp
earnings.
The corporate leader who made Microsoft into the world's largest software
maker -- and who is also one of the biggest philanthropists -- is seen as a man
who does not like publicity. He explained that he did not like the attention of
being the world's richest.
"You get more visibility as a result of it," he said during an
interview conducted by CNBC reporter Donny Deutsch in front of a crowd of people
attending a Microsoft advertising event.
The Microsoft co-founder said that the person he learned most from in the
world, aside from technology colleagues, was fellow-billionaire and legendary
investor Warren Buffett.
"He has this very refreshing, simple way of looking at things so I put
him top of the list," said Gates, adding that the top lesson from Buffett
was the importance of integrity.
Still, Gates joked about his plight being unequaled in wealth. Asked if he
surrounded himself with financial peers, he quipped, "No, I sit
alone."