Bill Gates is an amazing example of a driven, ambitious (and when called for by his ambition, ruthless) person and how those traits can lead to startlingly different perceptions of him based on what they are applied to.
Bill Gates the businessman was ruthless in his pursuit of dominating the markets he was in, and was largely successful, to many people's dismay.
Bill Gates the philanthropist is doggedly persistent in identifying and working towards fixing some of the major problems human-kind faces, and he's an actual hero to millions (me included, at this point).
The same person, with the same attitude and drive, just applied to a different goal. I think that's amazing.
There are some common threads though. Forcing a monoculture of Windows machines tied to a Microsoft-controlled software ecology that hampered innovation vs. forcing a monoculture of GMO crops tied to a chemical corp-controlled farming ecology that hampers farming innovation.
He is good at solving big problems by forcing everyone to work the same way. Which is good until that becomes a stupid way of working that hurts everyone.
Bill Gates the businessman was ruthless in his pursuit of dominating the markets he was in, and was largely successful, to many people's dismay.
Bill Gates the philanthropist is doggedly persistent in identifying and working towards fixing some of the major problems human-kind faces, and he's an actual hero to millions (me included, at this point).
The same person, with the same attitude and drive, just applied to a different goal. I think that's amazing.