Bill Gates may spend his days focused on global health and technology, but one small detail always shows up on screen: his love for Diet Coke. In What’s Next The Future with Bill Gates (2024), cans and glasses of it appear again and again, whether he is in meetings, at lunch, or speaking on camera.
This isn’t surprising. Gates has admitted before that he drinks several cans of Diet Coke every day. In his 2017 book The Road Ahead, he even joked about how much soda he consumes. Business Insider and Newsweek have both written about his habit, pointing out that he often pairs the drink with cheeseburgers during work sessions.
In the series, Coca-Cola almost feels like part of the cast. You see it on the table in strategy talks, during interviews, or just in quiet moments when he takes a sip. Other drinks appear too- sparkling water, coffee, or tea, but the silver can is always nearby.
Bill Gates, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, holds shares in Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest Coke bottler in Latin America, making his constant Diet Coke on screen in What’s Next The Future with Bill Gates a very fitting product placement.
All screenshots are taken from What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates Season 1, released on Netflix in 2024.
