Bill Gates: Where are his billions going?

[Mrs Behavin]

Like many great industrialists before him, Bill Gates cherished a dream: that after he retired, he would give his fortune away. But when his mother died prematurely, the techno-tycoon could wait no longer. Soon, billions were allocated to Aids, malaria and education projects. And now, with a $35bn donation from his friend Warren Buffett, Microsoft's founder truly has the power to change the world. Paul Vallely explains where the money goes - and why

It was already the most powerful charity in the world. And by a big margin. Last year it declared its assets at $35bn - more than the GDP of a medium-sized African country. It gave away $1.36bn in grants. And now it is to double in size - thanks to a massive donation from the world's second richest man.

The rich, F Scott Fitzgerald famously observed, are different from you and me (and not just because, as Ernest Hemingway waggishly riposted, they have more money). If you needed proof of that just put yourself in the shoes of yesterday's donor, 75-year-old Warren Buffett. If you had decided you were going to give all your money away, to whom would you give it? Here's one answer you probably wouldn't come up with. The second richest man in the world decided to give it to the richest man in the world - the Microsoft founder Bill Gates

 

[White2000GT]

Super-rich people make me want to vomit. They throw their money around like it is nothing. They go years and years stepping on the "little people" and then they think they can make up for all of the deceipt and lies by giving their money to charity? Feh! If he really wanted to do something good with all his money he could give it all to the middle and lower class families in America. I'll take my share in large bills please!

 

[Mrs Behavin]

:agree

 

[sharpies]

Maybe it's just me, but I think that viewpoint is a little harsh. Gates made his money in the early days by coming up with a good idea, pulling together technology from a coulple of different sources & combining them into one simple machine that anyone can use, yep even me.

His idea was so good that once it started to make money, you could not stop it - so he started up a number of charities to give some of it away. Sure he kept some for himself but wouldn't we all.

If you work hard at an idea & it earns you a lot of money, then I think that that is OK but if you just happen to be born into it & have no respect for money, then that is not OK - this can easily be seen by the difference in behaviour of the 2 types of people.

Look at the Hilton sisters, Nicole Richie & quite a few others, but when you look back at the life of Gates there are few examples of bad behaviour.

Besides that if you earned the money fairly then you have a right to spend it any way you want to, I know I would.

Allan

 

[TheOriginalJames]

With that donation, of 35 billion dollars... (I did a little math.)

Assuming the US population is around 300 million people, Bill Gates could give EVERYONE in the country 116.66666666666667 MILLION dollars.

 

[Mrs Behavin]

I'll gladly hold my hand out for that kind of million dollars!

 

[Haus]

:agree

 

[TheOriginalJames]

and you know what? With that 116,000,000 in my pocket... I would pay off all my debts (which is about 15-20k with loans/credit) and donate huge amounts to different charities... so either way, a charity benefits.

 

[sharpies]

Assuming the US population is around 300 million people, Bill Gates could give EVERYONE in the country 116.66666666666667 MILLION dollars.

35 billion Dollars = 35,000,000,000 or 35 x 10 to the power 9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion
300 million = 300,000,000 or 3 x 10 to the power 8

That only makes $116.67 for each American. Not really enough to start celebrating.

There is also a British Billion which is 10 to the power 12 http://www.sunblock99.org.uk/sb99/people/JIreland/ji_bill.html

This would give each American $116,666.67 each. This amount is much better, but Bill Gates is not English, so don't get your hopes up.

Allan

 

[White2000GT]

Either way, I think he should give some of that money back to the consumers of the product that made him the wealthiest man alive.