It’s a bizarre day in the neighborhood.
Billionaire Bill Gates devoted a great deal of time and money to try to make himself look as kind and approachable as TV’s Mr. Rogers — with his team even using a custom-size mannequin to test out boring potential outfits, according to a new report.
Gates’ team toiled away on crafting the nerdy image he’s known for today to make the 70-year-old tech mogul appear like a benevolent man focused on helping the world, current and former employees told the Wall Street Journal.
To that end, his stylists tested outfits for different days of the week on the custom mannequin, with the team having access to “troves of neutral tone crew and V-neck sweaters, button-down shirts, slacks and extra pairs of the Silver Lining Opticians ‘Carbon’ glasses at an off-site building,” the Journal said.
The outfits were specifically picked for Gates to wear during public events, with his employees reportedly sending the billionaire’s senior staff three options to choose from.
The carefully selected wardrobe was meant to evoke the “calm and approachable” image of Fred Rogers, the beloved TV personality who ruled the public airwaves for decades.
While Gates’ appearance was more in line with a quintessential nondescript tech nerd, the team believed their efforts were successful by the time a 2019 YouGov poll found the billionaire ranked at the very top of public figures who people look up to.
The ranking “is quite fantastic and reflects the hard work and creativity of this team,” crowed Larry Cohen, the longtime CEO of Gates Ventures and the Microsoft founder’s right-hand man, in an internal email reviewed by the Journal.
“[It shows] strong perceptions and attitudes of and towards Bill and the work we’re all doing,” Cohen added.
Gates’ teams also reportedly pressed Netflix to make small changes to some shots taken during two Netflix documentaries about the philanthropist.
One such request asked for the video team to edit out a “sour look” Gates made during one interview, with another calling into question an image of Gates below “Bernie Sanders’s ID.”
Neither The Gates Foundation nor Netflix responded to the Post’s request for comment.
Despite all the reported efforts, Gates’ public image took a nose dive once the details of his relationship with notorious pedophile Jeffery Epsteincame to light.
While Gates has denied any wrongdoing with Epstein, he confessed earlier this year to having an affair with two Russian women. He and his wife of 27 years, Melinda French, divorced in 2021.
Epstein’s emails revealed the disgraced financier attempted to threaten Gates with the affair in 2013, with a Gates spokesperson slamming it as “absolutely absurd and completely false.”
Gates is set to speak with a congressional committee over his ties with Epstein on June 10. Gates maintains that his link with Epstein only ever centered on getting help connecting with wealthy donors for the Gates Foundation.
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