Bill Gates warned of the potential for a devastating pandemic like this years ago, and in February he stated that coronavirus was precisely the kind of threat that he feared could inflict great harm on a global scale. He has subsequently been the target of a variety of conspiracy theories, some of which accuse him of creating the virus while others say that his desire to monitor population movements to help curb the virus’ spread is actually a plot to monitor individual movement more broadly. Ironically, his concern for the welfare of humanity has rendered him a target of wild accusations that present him as profiting off of the scourge that he is fighting against.
