Summary
- Bill Gates embarrassingly misjudged grocery store prices on Ellen, showing how out of touch he is with daily life for normal people.
- Despite his billionaire status, Gates struggled to guess basic prices, proving he may not fully grasp the cost of living for others.
- Ellen and Bill's awkward price guessing game exposed the gap between their wealth and average people's reality.
A few years into Ellen DeGeneres' now-defunct talk show, celebrities knew what they were getting into when they agreed to an interview. Yet actually appearing on the show sometimes went sideways for guests. During one appearance, Ellen seemed to shade Bill Gates' daughter. In another visit to The Ellen Show, Bill thoroughly embarrassed himself by playing a grocery store price guessing game.
Bill and Melinda Gates both defended their billionaire status in interviews, but also agreed that they should pay higher tax rates than "low-income people." However, that doesn't mean either of them have a realistic concept of how much it costs to live. A snippet of Ellen's show proved just how out of touch Bill was with the real world, while commenters suggested Ellen wasn't too far behind, either.
Bill Gates Couldn't Guess Grocery Store Prices On The Ellen Show
Bill Gates admitted he hadn't been shopping in years
Amid comments joking that Bill Gates probably bought an entire grocery store instead of going shopping like "normal" people, viewers decided that Bill Gates was completely out of touch with how normal people grocery shop. It can only be assumed that Bill Gates has an entire team of hired help to do his shopping, so he hasn't seen a grocery store receipt in ages.
It quickly became clear that Bill was out of his financial element while appearing on The Ellen Show a few years ago.
When asked to guess the price of various grocery store items, Bill unflinchingly guessed that Rice-a-Roni was $5. When the audience gasped and laughed, and Ellen chastised him, Bill joked, "I'll take five."
That was his response to each oddball guess, instead of elaborating on how "expensive" things were, which led fans to joke in the comments that Bill was completely befuddled by the whole thing.
The audience wasn't thrilled either, because Ellen declared the audience would "get something" if Bill could guess 3 out of the 5 items correctly. Commenters razzed Ellen for her comment afterward, suggesting Bill would have to make a mad dash out of the studio if he failed at his task.
"Ellen: “You better run to your car”
Bill: *laughs in helicopter*"
Things went just the way everyone guessed they would, with Bill guessing outlandish amounts for each of the items. He thought Totinos pizza rolls would be $22, but lowered his "official" answer with the audience and Ellen egging him on. Bill seemed thrilled (and relieved) when his guess of $8 was close enough to the sales price of $8.98.
Not all his answers made sense, but some did make him seem more relatable.
Bill Gates Thought Laundry Detergent Was Too Expensive
Bill proved he's still somewhat relatable by labeling laundry detergent too expensive
Let's be real: laundry detergent is probably another product that Bill Gates hasn't bought in decades. Not that he was ever buying Rice-a-Roni or Totinos, but the laundry detergent might have been a bit more relatable price-guessing item if he did his own laundry.
Still, the audience (and commenters on YouTube) found his guess relatable in the sense that he seemed to agree that detergent is simply too expensive.
When asked to guess a price for laundry soap, Bill guessed $4. After some booing from the audience, Bill guessed $10. When the price of $19.97 was revealed, Bill's jaw dropped, then used his joke that he would take half (based on the price he guessed).
Since Bill technically gave correct answers (after multiple tries) on some items — and successfully guessed the right price for floss — the audience got their goodies, and Bill was somewhat redeemed.
But after the clip was posted to YouTube, viewers lamented the disconnect between the billionaire's experiences and their own. Some also took a dig at Ellen, because many speculated she didn't know the prices either (or only knew them because her cue cards had them noted). Both relied heavily on the audience's booing and waving to guess higher or lower to actually 'win' the game.
"Let’s be honest here. Ellen didn’t really know those prices either."
The clip didn't sit well for that reason, though some commenters pointed out they loved how 'average-dude' Bill looked during his appearance, even if his wallet says otherwise.
"Hundred millionaire laughing at billionaire for not guessing grocery prices."
Of course, after Bill Gates went through the most expensive divorce in celebrity history, his perspective might have changed on the expense of things. The grocery guessing clip was years before his 2021 divorce.
After the split, Bill is still worth billions, though it's assumed he's worth less than the $130B he came into divorce court with. Even with his hundred-plus billions, Bill claimed he did his own dishes every night during a Reddit AMA. Maybe he could have guessed dish soap prices more accurately?
