Bill Gates planned the COVID-19 pandemic

The argument

Bill and Melinda Gates were at the forefront of technological advancements to supposedly help stop the spread of infectious diseases throughout the world, but what could they have to gain from the recent global pandemic? Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are gaining a lot of publicity, and this has been a great opportunity for Bill to push his vaccination agenda on the United States technology market. Many believe that the Foundation looks to implant microchips in people willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and that Bill and Melinda knew about the pandemic months before it actually happened, but chose to ignore it in order to boost their message and publicity. Theorists claim that all of the evidence needed is in a 2015 TED Talk Bill Gates conducted about the world's lack of readiness to prepare for a pandemic like this one - highly convenient. The Microsoft founder and his wife have had much to gain within this recent period of turmoil for the world, and many want to call them out for their corrupt dealings and deception.

Premises

Counter-arguments

There is absolutely no evidence to support this conspiracy theory, and though their foundation has helped fund research programs for the vaccine to COVID-19, Bill and Melinda Gates do not directly benefit from the development of a vaccine at all. They have also outright denounced any talk of microchips or secret plan for a pandemic. Microsoft is such a large corporation that any mention of Bill Gates as a ploy for publicity is mute, and the mention of Gates himself is drowned out by the record number of "COVID-19" mentions throughout the news cycle since the pandemic hit. The idea that only two people could know about the approaching pandemic is highly unlikely, and their strategies have always been to help developing nations better equip themselves for diseases that developed ones have already largely solved. There is no secret plan underpinning the foundation, and no evidence exists to support this claim.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Bill and Melinda Gates have nothing to gain in terms of publicity or technological advancement for their company. They are heavily involved in pandemic research because they saw this as a problem several years ago because of the public's obvious lack of readiness in this particular situation. The Foundation does not directly benefit from a coronavirus vaccine, nor do they as individuals. [Rejecting P3] Bill Gates did not cause the coronavirus pandemic.