Is Gates Really Leaving the Business? Wow.

((I think he's serious: world's richest man becomes White Knight of Malaria. There's something epic about this. Epic, and also, hey, that send-off was genuinely funny. Almost endearing, even.)))

Link: Bill Gates Bids CES Farewell.

(...)

"But things really got interesting when Gates wondered aloud about what his last day at Microsoft would be like before he steps away from day-to-day duties in July to work full time at philanthropy. That led into a self-deprecating video where an awkward Gates tries rapping Jay-Z's Big Pimpin'as the artist runs the soundboard.

"It was great," Jay-Z tells Gates, before turning to the camera and whispering, "not so much."

Gates calls Bono off-stage during a concert to beg for a job playing with U2, only to be denied.

Stephen Spielberg shoots down Gates' audition reel.

Jon Stewart rejects Gates' request to co-anchor The Daily Show.

And both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama turn down his pleas to serve as their running mate. In the video, Obama isn't even sure who's calling him. "Bill?" Obama says into the phone. "Bill Clinton?"

"While stars routinely show up in Gates' CES keynotes, the number of A-list celebrities— which also included Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, and Al Gore—made it feel like a grand finale, which it was. After having done 11 CES keynotes—the first came in 1994—Gates said this one would be his last. In November, Gates presided over his final shareholder meeting as chairman...."