“ ‘No one should think the government can wave a wand an all of sudden the economy is anything like it was before this happened.’ ” — Bill Gates

That is billionaire Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft MSFT, -1.24% and noted philanthropist during a 26-minute interview on CNBC on Thursday.

Gates, who boasts a net worth of $103.4 billion, according to Forbes (making him the second wealthiest man in the world behind Amazon.com’s AMZN, -1.78% Jeff Bezos) has been one of the most vocal critics of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged the domestic economy and brought most of the world’s business and personal activity to a screeching halt.