Serious question: why are we allowing oligarchs and influence-peddlers to 'donate' money to governments?

For years Bill Gates has normalized a pathway for the the super-rich to buy influence through such donations. The Gates Foundation has given well over $1 billion to govt agencies and ministries around the world, with particular influence over the US government....and also, oddly, China.

Now Congress is investigating. Read on!

https://timschwab.substack.com/p/congress-investigates-gates-foundation

Plz read my newest investigation! As political animus against oligarchy gains momentum, are billionaires like Bill Gates co-opting the movement through philanthropy?

I tell this story through Rutger Bregman, a man of many contradictions.

https://timschwab.substack.com/p/he-built-a-brand-criticizing-billionaires

Bill Gates pushed the limits of his oligarchic power, seeking to put himself and his philanthropy above the law. And the checks and balances of democracy denied him.

This is a big story---please read & share my newest:

https://timschwab.substack.com/p/gates-foundation-loses-diplomatic

Investigative journalism on the Gates Foundation is always difficult--b/c it means challenging the one-sided narratives most newsrooms push out. Now climate activists are adding to the misinformation, amplifying Gates's bogus claims on climate change. Read my newest investigation!

https://timschwab.substack.com/p/divesting-vs-greenwashing-are-blackrock

My newest investigation--please share!

Unverified, voluntary corporate promises have always been the wrong approach to fighting climate change. Isn't it time that fossil fuel divestment campaigns start holding BlackRock and Bill Gates accountable?

LINK: https://timschwab.substack.com/p/divesting-vs-greenwashing-are-blackrock

So cool! I'll be at Yale Law School next month, talking about billionaires & oligarchs--and Bill Gates's expansive, pernicious influence over health & politics.

Plus, I'll finally meet Linsey Mcgoey--- author of "No Such Thing as a Free Gift"--in person! Bloomberg's Sophie Alexander is also on the panel. Should be interesting!

Free and open to the public----please join b/c we are long overdue to finally have an open, honest debate about the Gates Foundation.

https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/yale-law-school-events/role-ultra-rich-health-and-politics

My newest piece--please read & share! As Trump dismantles foreign aid & global health, Bill Gates appears too busy promoting his memoir to notice the millions of lives at stake. At a point, doesn't he have blood on his hands?

Please read and share!

https://timschwab.substack.com/p/as-trump-attacks-foreign-aid-gates

My newest on Substack looks at the protesters who took over Bill Gates's book tour.

Try as he might, our 'good billionaire' can no longer hide from the growing chorus of critics calling him an oligarch. That's a very good thing.

Please read, share and subscribe!

https://timschwab.substack.com/p/climate-activists-disrupt-bill-gatess

NPR shamelessly promotes Bill Gates's new memoir but doesn't disclose to audiences the $25 million NPR takes from Gates Foundation? Is this propaganda or journalism?

At a moment when the Trump admin is attacking NPR, these ethics lapses are stunning.

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/08/nx-s1-5288815/bill-gates-gets-personal-in-his-new-memoir-source-code

Times up, Bill Gates. You can no longer say that your critics are conspiracy theorists. Amazing protest of Bill Gates's obscene wealth and bogus philanthropy!

The emperor has no clothes

https://news.sky.com/video/climate-protesters-disrupt-microsoft-co-founder-bill-gates-as-he-spoke-at-a-university-13304976