Kinda like how everyone thought Bill Gates was a good guy

The only people that ever thought this were those who knew virtually nothing about him... he donated a lot of money to a lot of causes, but got it all through dodgy ethics and cutthroat, scummy business practices. It was pretty well-known that he had (a?) mistress(es?).

And I use "he" lightly - his wife pushed hard for the philanthropy, and it's not likely that he would have done so on his own.