This post from Joe Shea should interest people here — thanks for getting in touch with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Joe!
I just had a conversation with a press person at the Gates Foundaton (Lydia Walker, (206) 709-3100), and have some good and some bad news. The bad news first: The Gates Foundation does not and will not have any role in providing money for cold fusion research.
The good news: What may be contemplated is a personal investment from Mr. Gates. Just to re-state this: the Gates Foundation is not involved at all in this issue, and calls the headline incorrect.. I am awaiting word on the investment issue from his personal office, which may or may not respond to my inquiry (I imagine this kind of investment would not be revealed until it is made, if it ever is; this doesn’t mean that an investment is any less likely; Mr Gates has a longstanding interest in the topic).
UPDATE: More from Joe Shea this evening:
I just got a response from Mr. Gates’ personal office from his Director of Communications, Jonah Godlman. He said:
“I am in Bill Gates’s personal office. Regarding your inquiry to the foundation on Bill’s trip to Rome: Bill was at the ENEA last week on a personal trip to learn more about the innovative work the agency is doing. The visit was a wide-ranging session covering lots of topics. He was not there as a representative of the foundation, nor are there any plans for funding or other partnerships between the ENEA and the foundation.”
