Bill Gates' new book will discuss his views on how to prevent the next pandemic and how he became the subject of conspiracy theories

• Bill Gates announced that his new book will be about how to prevent the next pandemic.
• He will discuss insights about COVID-19, as well as becoming the subject of conspiracy theories.

Bill Gates is optimistic that "COVID-19 can be the last pandemic." So much so that he's dedicated his next book to it.

In a post on his long-running GatesNotes blog, the Microsoft cofounder revealed that the title of his new book will be "How to Prevent the Next Pandemic." It will be published in May 2022.

"We're not as close to the end of this pandemic as we would like but we have learned a lot about how to stop this happening again," Gates said in a video accompanying the announcement.

The book will be published through Knopf in the US and Penguin Random House internationally. It will set out specific steps for how society can prevent future pandemics and provide better global healthcare, he said.

It will also include lessons from his conversations with public health leaders, including Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the President, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the leader of the United Nations Health Agency.

"No one needs to be convinced that an infectious disease could kill millions of people or shut down the global economy,'' Gates wrote. "If we make the right choices and investments, we can make COVID-19 the last pandemic."

Since leaving Microsoft, Gates has turned his attention to global health issues, pledging billions to combat COVID-19 and raise awareness of the threat of climate change through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The latter was the subject of his last book.

Gates had long warned about the potential threat of a global pandemic. He has also been vocal about the importance of vaccines since COVID-19 emerged. The Bill & Melinda Gates has pledged $2 billion in total since January 2020 to fight its spread.

Gates has become the subject of online conspiracy theories, claiming that he was exploiting the vaccines to implant microchips in people. He plans to address this experience in the book.

Gates uses his blog to make public announcements and share his thoughts on various topics, including the metaverse, vaccines, and other business books.

In his end-of-year blog post, he revealed that 2021 had been "the most unusual and difficult year," following his divorce from wife Melinda.

Allegations also emerged that he'd had an extramarital affair and mistreated employees, the second of which was denied by a Microsoft spokesperson.