this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 153 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

The divorce cost Billy at least $8 billion. When it was announced after it was revealed that Bill was on THE plane, I thought it was probably that--the reason they got divorced. But, there was always some doubt, maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was just the straw on the camel's back, and it's more that Bill is generally a shitty person, just like every other billionaire. The more that comes out, the more it's obvious this was more than a single straw. She didn't know how far he went, she was blind-sided. I can only imagine what that argument and following negotiation was like, and what she knows, that she signed an NDA to never reveal in exchange for the money.

In the end, all billionaires are bad, even Melinda. She took the payout to shut up. She's "using it for good", but that's as much bullshit as it was when she was with Bill.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 94 points 2 months ago (1 children)

NDAs to hide crimes are illegal and unenforceable.

They're literally extortion.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 40 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Would you gamble legality over the power these people have, though? Laws don’t really work for these people. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if her life had been threatened if she revealed anything. Maybe not by Bill directly, but by one from their in-crowd at least.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)

These people have “fixers”. They’re probably on the books as something like “security consultant.” Possibly at Microsoft itself. I’ve seen people at other companies who have had to deal with this kind of thing for speaking up. These people are literally paid bully threatening assholes with a company’s tech backing for cyberstalking and the lawyers on retainer to back them up. Wouldn’t surprise me if Bill would sick such a person on his wife.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Microsoft contracts with the Pinkertons for private security.

Yes - those Pinkersons.

[–] Droechai@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The Pinkertons of MtG fame? deep shock

[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Like the ones in the weezer album?

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago (2 children)

No one should ever buy into the "billionaire using their wealth for good" propaganda.

By nature of them hoarding their immense wealth, they are stealing necessary resources and money from the working class they exploit, that would render their charity work completely unnecessary.

It is the essence of the breadcrumbs example in action. They eat a colossal buffet, give breadcrumbs to the starving masses, and demand to be treated like heroes for it.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago

Stealing from the poor to give to the poor.

[–] HungryJerboa@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There is one notable exception: Mackenzie Scott (Bezos' ex wife)

Look up Yield Giving. She's trying, successfully, to be a good person.

[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago

Haven’t seen the charity yet, but Bill Gates runs a very successful charity too, doesn’t he?

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago (2 children)

She took the payout to shut up. She’s “using it for good”, but that’s as much bullshit as it was when she was with Bill.

I feel like I'm a moral person, but also that $8 billion is a lot of money

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago

Also, the choice probably isn’t “be poor or rich,” but rather ”be dead or rich.”

[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Far Cry 6 posed this kind of question.

The evil dictator has a Canadian politician backing him. Your rebels corner him on a ship as he tries to flee. Cowering, he shouts to you from a satphone: He made a deal with one of the rebel leaders. A HUGE payout, in exchange he leaves the conflict alive. Your friend even insists to you over the phone you should take the deal.

As noble and principled as it would seem to reject the money, there’s another look: That money could get medicine, weapons, a thousand things that could quintuple the rebellion’s chance of success, well beyond the simple idea of buying a yacht and clinking glasses.

In my playthrough, I took the money. It felt like a murky issue, admittedly. I also don’t know how effectively Melinda has actually followed through on charity.

[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

I mean, it's really more like he paid someone that figured it out and had a moral compass once it affected her, instead of a public, fuck-everyone-up lawsuit. Small price to pay, really.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 91 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Ah, come on! Who hasn't slipped antibiotics to their wife to cure the STD you gave her after shagging Russian hookers? Can happen to anyone!

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

hookers

You mean sex slaves...

[–] psoul@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Yeah, filthy rich people aren’t allowed to have a little fun anymore?

[–] verdi@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 7 points 2 months ago

*Russian children

FTFY

[–] msage@programming.dev 3 points 2 months ago

It's hookers only if they come from the Hook part of the New Zealand.

.

.

And also when they are 18.

[–] j_elgato@leminal.space 89 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Bill Gates is fucking irrelevant

We are being fed an edited/redacted/delayed version of the MILLIONS of documents that provide enough red meat and celebrity sacrifice to distract us.

And we are falling for it...

[–] NeptuneOrbit@lemmy.world 42 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yes, this may be a smoke screen, BUT I do think not letting go of the idea that Epstein and Trump had customers is also pretty important.

[–] j_elgato@leminal.space 6 points 2 months ago

Sadly, oue focus is such that we as a culture are incapable of maintaining attention past a few news cycles. Why the distract/delay tactic they are employing is so effective.

Of the two Johns,

We can either focus our attention/outrage on the current POTUS who is doing everything in his considerable power to destroy the rule of law and our ability to hold the others accountable

Or

A guy who was last relevant when we frosted our tips, used 56K dial-up, and when the movie Office Space was having its initial theatrical run.

[–] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 2 months ago

I think it's having the opposite effect. The trickling out of information is good to keep the public engaged with the Epstein documents for a long time. Will it ultimately get us any sort of justice? Not with this fucking joke of a federal administration, but it does shine a consistent spotlight on the evils all these billionaires are doing. Compared to the Panama Papers where everything came out at once, the outrage died down pretty quickly once the next news cycle revved up. This is a smoldering fire that keeps being fed the longer the little bombshells periodically come out.

[–] CptOblivius@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Ya but these guys are still very very powerful and will doubtfully go down as a scapegoat.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago (3 children)

The weirdest part for me is that he’s incapable of slipping his wife antibiotics. I get that you’re rich enough to never need to, but do you really never make her a cup of tea or anything?

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 25 points 2 months ago (1 children)

"Honey, let me make you a cup of tea 3 times a day on those exact hours for 2 weeks"...

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

There are better antibiotics, which work with less frequent doses, but they’re only given out when medically necessary. I assume having bill gates’ wealth (and control of a whole bunch of anti malaria initiatives) means you have access to the kind of antibiotic you choose, you can even justify it by saying that you’re bill gates and you have a sixty hour workweek with the foundation, even in retirement, and you simply cannot take more than two days off, but antibiotics make you feel too weird to work, if you want.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 5 points 2 months ago

Most meds would taste awful in a beverage or sprinkled on food.

[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

I read that he "surreptitiously" gave them to her, which tonme implied some kind of sneaking. On the other hand, I'm confident she was clearly aware of everything but never went public because then they lose all that money.

[–] bonenode@piefed.social 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] NeptuneOrbit@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Yeah I cannot really say that the things in the files are true, but it does seem very likely he did bad illegal things. What exactly? We may never know.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 2 months ago

More Epstein stuff. A document mentioned he was going to get his wife to start taking antibiotics because of an STI he picked up. The joke is that he wouldn’t want to tell her it was an STI, so he’d have to find some other way to justify the antibiotics.

[–] YeahToast@aussie.zone 9 points 2 months ago

I believe it came out of the Epstein files that he was intending to (?or did) provide antibiotics to his wife because he had obtained a STI.

[–] m3t00@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago