Bill Gates played Secret Santa on Reddit and showered one lucky woman with over a dozen thoughtful gifts
This year, Gates drew a cat lover as his Secret Santa recipient who goes by VietteLLC on Reddit.
And he did not disappoint. "I could fit about five of me in the box I got," she said.
"You could tell he genuinely put thought in to it - even if an assistant helped him, he took time out of his day (and we're talking a Bill Gates day, which is arguably 2500x more valuable than most) to write me thoughtful notes," VivetteLLC tells Business Insider.
Gates was so meticulous in his gift giving that even the gift wrapping featured cat-decor tape.
The biggest gift by far was a 30-ish pound stuffed animal of the cartoon cat character Pusheen. "I will die holding this at 90 (as it loving crushes me to sleep)," VivetteLLC wrote in her post about the gifts.
As he does every year, Gates proved the gifts genuinely came from him by including a photo of himself. This year, he posed with the giant Pusheen and the letter that he wrote.
In the letter he told her that, as a cat lover he thought she'd enjoy "cuddling with the biggest cat I could find." He also dropped a handwritten mention in the letter of the names of her four cats.
But that was just the start. The box contained over a dozen gifts.
The most touching gift was the one he called on in his letter: three donations, $250 each, to three of her favorite cat charities. These are the Friends of Felines Rescue Center, the Stray Cat Alliance, and Town Cats, all on notes with hand drawn logos, which she says helped move her to tears.
In addition, Gates sent her:
- A stuffed animal of Pusheen's sister, Stormy
- A tiny Pusheen Ornament
- A book on cat shelters with a personal note inside he wrote
- A business book (to help her with her startups)
- A fun Dr. Who coffee table book
- Dr. Who cardboard Tardis for the cats
- A miniature Austrian snow-globe with a teeny tiny white kitten inside. "Stunningly beautiful craftsmanship," she writes.
- A commissioned, framed one-of-a-kind cross-stitch of "me and my pal, Bill, and my 4 cats that says 'Live Life in the Meow'
- A Japanese Daruma with what she calls "a very sweet message attached to it" but she won't say what he wrote. "It's a secret! muahaha."
- A Dave Matthews Band shirt with a quote she loved
- A Dave Matthews Band Car Sticker
- A scroll of the map of Skyrim
- And a $150 Gift card to True Grit. VivetteLLC called this gift "super selfless, as it was intended to get downloads for Procreate, which is only on iPads," she said. " Nice touch, Bill ;)"
"I've decided from here on, I'll have to refer to Christmas memories as BB (Before Bill), or AB (After Bill)," VivetteLLC tells Business Insider. "I'm actually moving to Seattle in a couple of months, so perhaps Pusheen will appear in his lobby to say hello? (Joking! There is no way it would fit in a cab)."
"I'm still spontaneously laughing throughout the day, and it's a bit hard to focus with a gigantic Pusheen next to me," she added.
Overwhelmed by the box of gifts, VivetteLLC also posted a YouTube video to show the gifts and personally thank him.