Geldof and Bill Gates appear on Live8 stage
Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has given a surprise address to the Live8 concert in Hyde Park.
Sir Bob Geldof, who was making his first appearance before the crowd, introduced the computer whiz on stage. He greeted the crowd of 200,000 in a typically understated way: "Hello. Thanks for coming. Would have been a bit crap if nobody had turned up, I suppose."
Gates told the crowd that he was confident the Make Poverty History campaign's aims could be achieved. "I believe that if you show people the problems and you show people the solutions they will be moved to act. The huge turnout for Live8 here and around the world shows that."
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded in 2000, supports greater equity in healthcare, education and public libraries on a global scale. It has an endowment of $28.8 billion.
"The generosity we are asking for can save millions of lives," Gates said, shortly before introducing Dido. "We can do this, and when we do it will be the best thing that humanity has ever done."
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