The BBC has landed something of a coup. Microsoft founder and head honcho Bill Gates is to deliver the 2013 Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the Londoner can reveal, following in the footsteps of President Clinton, Sir Terry Pratchett, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales.
Gates, whose foundation has given away more than $25 billion in grants since its inception in 1994, will lecture next year and the speech will be on “how to ensure that every child has a chance of leading a healthy and productive life”, I am told.
The host of the lecture alternates between leading broadcasters David and Jonathan Dimbleby, two of Richard’s children who followed in their father’s footsteps. This time it’s the turn of Jonathan to host the event, the 38th, and the BBC will announce its broadcast date next year. “Bill Gates is one of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and most generous philanthropists,” Jonathan says. “In our troubled times, it is fantastic news that he has agreed to deliver this year’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture.”
