Penguin Business acquires investigation into Bill Gates by journalist Schwab 

Penguin Business has acquired The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire by Tim Schwab, an investigative journalist known for his series on the Gates Foundation for The Nation magazine.

Lydia Yadi initially acquired rights but since her move to Penguin Random House US, Jamie Birkett will be managing the publication. UK and Commonwealth rights were acquired from Devon Mazzone at Henry Holt and Company for simultaneous US and UK publication in November 2023.

The publisher says The Bill Gates Problem offers readers “a provocative, deeply researched and long overdue counter-narrative about one of the world’s most widely recognised individuals – a true global celebrity with international reach".

It goes on: “Piercing the public image of Gates as an avuncular, sweater-wearing and near-saintly figure, Schwab argues that this simplistic portrait perilously ignores the political influence Gates has acquired through his charitable work, and the controversial ways through which he utilises it."

Birkett, commissioning editor, said: “It’s rare to encounter a journalist of Tim Schwab’s calibre writing about an individual as complicated, wealthy, or recognisable as Bill Gates. The Bill Gates Problem will challenge readers to think again about the relationship between power, philanthropy, money and influence; I’m delighted to be publishing it this autumn."

Schwab said: “The issue isn’t that Bill Gates is less saintly than we’ve been led to believe. It’s that he’s a threat to democracy. Through charitable donations, Gates turns his vast private wealth into political influence over how we feed, educate and medicate the world. It’s a troubling model of money in politics that other tech billionaires are already emulating, and that demands our attention.”