Portrait painter Margaret Holland Sargent (now there's a name for a painter!) told an interesting story a couple of years ago at ASOPA's first convention in New York City...
She was hired by Bill Gates to paint his mother. At some point he wished to see her progress on the painting and she offered to "JPG" it to him via computer...
His immediate response was (I'm serious) "What's a JPG?" And she had to explain it to him.....
Here is M. H. Sargent's website where (if curiosity overcomes you) Bill and the portrait of his mother can be seen:
http://www.portraitartist.com/sargent/sargent.htm
Somehow "grand plots" seldom ring true with me. The "Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation" has taken on some verrry ambitious projects as an attempt to make the world a better place.
And the concept of Bill gobbling up artwork to hoard just doesn't fit...
Anne, my reaction to what you said was not meant in any way to be a "put down." I've simply heard so many stories about "Big Bad Bill" over the years that I almost automatically react in disbelief. I apologise if I hurt your feelings...