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A list of donations that Bill Gates has made
- Randgalt 14y agoWhat's more important is that he produced that much money. You can't give away what you haven't produced.
- PavlovsCat 14y agoHow does one "produce" or "make" money? I was always under the impression it basically just gets shifted around.. yeah, you first have to attract a lot of mass before you can repel it again, but that ain't making mass.
- PavlovsCat 14y agoHere's a radical idea: instead of passive-aggressively determing this does "not add to the discussion" you might simply try to answer the question. After all, people (surely on here) say making money this and making money that all day long; and while needed, pointing out how dumb that is will not ever be "on-topic", so I attached the (trick) question to a comment that is sure to remain at the bottom of the discussion. If it rubs you the wrong way it's probably for a reason; good luck with that. I didn't imply Bill Gates never produced any value, any such crap is solely in your head as well.
- civilian 14y agoCreating wealth is not a zero-sum game. So your phrase: "I was always under the impression it basically just gets shifted around" is wrong. Basic economics, man. The extension of this is that if you've accumulated great wealth (through the market, rather than through dictatorship or government) then you have also generated great wealth for your business customers or clients. But that wealth will be more spread out.
- _delirium 14y agoThe fact that wealth is not a zero-sum game doesn't mean that your second claim follows: it is not the case that all transactions are positive-sum. Not all accumulation of wealth produces a multiplier; it's possible to make a fortune by siphoning off money with no net creation of wealth, or even by net destroying some.
- PavlovsCat 14y agoCreating wealth is not a zero-sum game. That's great; "making money" however is, seeing how there is a fixed amount in circulation.
- vy8vWJlco 14y agoEvery bank loan is new money in, at minimum, the form of an interest charge (but more often on some or all of the principal too). The principal+interest paid to the bank is more than the principal alone, even in the simplest case. In either case, however, the bank has "made" money (but not wealth or value) and devalued (inflated) the paper currency in circulation. (You, however, are expected to make value with the capacity to transact that has been loaned to you). In the case of almost everyone else however, I agree: people are largely competing for the pre-existing numbers. But banks get to make them up, and that function is independent of the printing of currency. The actual currency is just printed as needed to facilitate trade, satisfying debts, and hopefully the creation of wealth; hopefully the wealth created is enough to counter the wealth removed, because otherwise there's lots of vacuums running around sucking up value. Oddly, most modern countries accumulate interest-bearing public debt (inflation and interest), employing banks as lenders, instead of just printing the money (currency) to spend on worthwhile projects and to remove from circulation when they're done.
- jongalloway2 14y agoHow does that work? Back at the big bang, there were 0 dollars, euros, rupees, etc. Now there are many.
- pimentel 14y agoRead this Paul Graham's essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html
- argimenes 14y agoNope. What's more important is that he spent the money on humanitarian causes, to try and better the world. He could have just bought islands for himself.
- gamblor956 14y agoAgreed, I'm reminded of another SV billionaire, who emphatically chose not to donate to any causes until shortly before his death...and even then, only to causes which would have personally benefited him.
- quesera 14y agoYou know nothing of which you speak.
- gamblor956 14y agoSteve Jobs believed that Apple products were better for people than charitable giving like food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-10-11/news/34365188_1_walter-isaacson-isaacson-s-steve-jobs-apple-products http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-10-11/news... "Despite accumulating an estimated $8.3 billion fortune...there is no public record of Mr. Jobs giving money to charity..." "in 1997, when Mr. Jobs returned to Apple, he closed the company’s philanthropic programs." http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/the-mystery-of-steve-jobss-public-giving/ http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/the-mystery-of-steve-... "And it wasn’t until after an unflattering media report about Jobs on the subject over the summer, that Apple in September initiated a “matching gifts” program, under which donations to philanthropies made by employees are matched by the company." http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-06/business/35277092_1_philanthropy-steve-jobs-jobs-and-apple http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-06/business/35277... This was just the first 3 results of the google search. There are hundreds of more sources to choose from.
- doktrin 14y agoCan you cite some evidence to the contrary? I'm tempted to say it's you who may be mis-informed.
- Klinky 14y agoBefore going too far down that road, it might also be a good idea to consider how he produced that much money. It's not entirely pretty.
- onedev 14y agoI sincerely don't think there is a "pretty way" to make ~$60b. You're going to have to be willing to be a hard ass and take some unethical routes.
- Xcelerate 14y agoI think that's an unfounded assumption.
- onedev 14y agoYou're right, but I don't think it's a ridiculous one to make.
- crdoconnor 14y agoName somebody who has made that much money ethically.
- philwelch 14y agoWarren Buffett?
- bjelkeman-again 14y agoI would argue that he is an outlier.
- philwelch 14y agoFortunately, all that was asked for was an existence proof.
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- Evbn 14y agoYour trolling will work better under a less telegraphic username. You can give away what you obtain, regardless of who produced it.
- hect0r 14y agoExactly. And let's not forget that Microsoft -- as a corporation -- as no responsibilities other than to make money for its shareholders and, as CEO, Bill Gates had likewise no responsibility beyond making money for his employers (i.e. shareholders). So talk about what Microsoft did or did not do is disingenuous since it is people, not corporations, that have moral or social responsibilities. Therefore, what Bill Gates has done is extremely praiseworthy as he has spent his own personal wealth and it is not diminished by whatever Microsoft may have done to give him that wealth.
- phaus 14y agoI'm really confused right now. Over half of that money 18.5 billion, was donated to the "male circumcision consortium" so they can circumcise people in Africa. Is that really such an important issue that it became the recipient of one of the largest donations in the history of the world? I'm certain that I must be missing something.
- bahman2000 14y agoaids
- phaus 14y agoThanks. I Learned something new today. I had no idea that male circumcision reduces the chances of contracting HIV, but it does. http://www.engenderhealth.org/our-work/major-projects/male-circumcision.php http://www.engenderhealth.org/our-work/major-projects/male-c...
- andymoe 14y agoEasy win for reducing the spread of STDs (AIDS) in a place where contraception is taboo for a lot of the population.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- ari_elle 14y agoI am also astonished by that number, but circumcision certainly seems to be an important way of fighting HIV. "There is compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60%."[1] "Evidence among heterosexual men in sub-Saharan Africa shows a decreased risk of between 38 percent and 66 percent over two years"[2] But Circumcision Rates in Africa are relatively high anyways, due to the population's religious background.[3] Quote of New York Times Article: [4] "Among those are 14 studies that provide what the experts characterize as “fair” evidence that circumcision in adulthood protects men from H.I.V. transmission from a female partner, cutting infection rates by 40 to 60 percent. Three of the studies were large randomized controlled trials of the kind considered the gold standard in medicine, but they were carried out in Africa, where H.I.V. — the virus the causes AIDS — is spread primarily among heterosexuals. " "Other studies have linked male circumcision to lower rates of infection with human papillomavirus and herpes simplex Type 2." " The procedure has long been recognized to lower urinary tract infections early in life and reduce the incidence of penile cancer." So i guess it just all adds up in a way. That being said, the number of over 18 billion Dollars (according to the article) being spent on this issue still astonishes me... [1] http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/malecircumcision/en/ http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/malecircumcision/en/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision#Sexually_transmitted_diseases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision#Sexually_transmit... [3] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Global_Map_of_Male_Circumcision_Prevalence_at_Country_Level.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Global_M... [4] https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/science/benefits-of-circumcision-outweigh-risks-pediatric-group-says.html https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/science/benefits-of-circu...
- zgohr 14y agoThis means some major vaccine has been developed, and some major life threatening illness cured, right? Am I right?
- JoshuaDavid 14y agoThat would be a qualified yes. As an example, the Gates Foundation has given a bit over a billion dollars to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. Those three diseases are among the biggest causes of (relatively) easily preventable deaths. In terms of vaccines, research is being done to develop a vaccine for malaria (which causes about 1% of global deaths), but vaccination may not prove to be the most effective means of eradicating the disease. Things like antimalarial drugs and mosquito netting may be more cost-effective, and so malaria rates have dropped dramatically despite there not being a vaccine. There is a vaccine for Tuberculosis, but it's definitely not cost-effective. AIDS is no longer a death sentence, though no vaccine exists. So in terms of Malaria and AIDS, the foundation has been reasonably successful (tuberculosis is proving to be a rather more difficult problem). So the Gates Foundation has contributed to improvements in health, though again, the contribution is fairly limited (as one would expect when talking about a fund with only $30 billion, which is a huge amount of money for an individual but pretty much insignificant on a global scale).
- InclinedPlane 14y agoCorrection: no FDA approved HIV vaccine exists, yet. However, HIV vaccines do exist and are in, or will soon be in, clinical trials. That doesn't necessarily mean that they will be proven to be safe and effective, but it's not unreasonable to imagine that one of the vaccines in the pipeline will prove to be.
- stox 14y agoSince 1997. Prior to that Bill donated zip, zero, nada to charitable causes. I suspect that Melinda is the driving force behind this.
- jliptzin 14y agoI suspect Bill is the type of person to focus intensely on one thing at a time. Prior to 1997 his focus was Microsoft. After that, he rode its success into his next endeavor, which is charity.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- Cacti 14y agoOR he was investing his money in the area that he knew best and that would have the best profit he knew how to achieve so he could donate _more_ later. Exponential growth is king. If he had donated all he had in 1997 he wouldn't have even come close to what he's donated today.
- DjMojoRisin 14y agoYou should read this article from 1996 - where Bill Gates is talking about his relationship with Warren Buffet. The quote below is pretty clear in that charity had always been his ultimate goal. "Warren and I share certain values. We both feel lucky that we were born into an era in which our skills have turned out to be so remunerative. Had we been born at a different time, our skills might not have had much value. Since we don't plan on spending much of what we have accumulated, we can make sure our wealth benefits society. In a sense, we're both working for charity. In any case, our heirs will get only a small portion of what we accumulate, because we both believe that passing on huge wealth to children isn't in their or society's interest. Warren likes to say that he wants to give his children enough money for them to do anything but not enough for them to do nothing. I thought about this before I met Warren, and hearing him articulate it crystallized my feelings." http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/02/05/207334/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/...
- ExpiredLink 14y agoNo donations to the victims of Microsoft Windows™?
- polskibus 14y agoI have to veto that site's side scrolljacking. I can't view the main table properly on my htc desire, scrolling right switches me to a different article!
- maxharris 14y agoWhat about a list of things Bill Gates did to build Microsoft, and the positive results of those achievements? It's a huge list, and it's the one that people should use to assess him morally. For example, there is huge value in standardization: having one platform that most people use at a given time saves a ton of porting effort. Same with the backward compatibility: I know several people that still get a lot of value from DOS applications. And look at the price of software over the last 30 years, adjusted for inflation. Microsoft helped bring those prices down and make these technologies more available to people.
- gcb0 14y agoirony list: - most of his donations are for universities. and when you go any university lab all they have is Macs. - 15 Bi to his own foundation. (August 24, 1999, January 29, 2010)
- mcintyre1994 14y agoI'm sure if you check out the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation [1][2], you'll be satisfied that 15 billion counts as money well spent. It's not a fund for him to spend on himself. [1] http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundati...
- shrughes 14y ago> and when you go any university lab all they have is Macs. No.