6 ms·

Bill and Melinda Gates Aren’t Leaving Their Kids Billions

74 points by ibsathish 13y ago

jw2013 13y ago
They left the most valuable gift to their children - great education from their parents, and they gave the most valuable present to some less priviledged children in the world - the chance to be educated with the help of Bill&Melinda foundation. Well done, Bills.
- icebraining 13y ago
  "Bills"?
  - mnml_ 13y ago
    Gates
- Cowicide 13y ago
  That was some nice ass kissing. Megalomaniacs love it when people do that.
  - sanoli 13y ago
    That was some nice sticking it to the man. Megalomaniacs hate it when people do that.
    - Cowicide 13y ago
      With the multitudes of ass kissers, I'm sure criticism means very little to those who screw over average citizens and still want to be thanked for it.. no, loved for it.
  - Fede_V 13y ago
    I know hating is easy, but this is a genuinely commendable thing that the Gates are doing, and they deserve praise for it. If you want to call out Gates, you can criticize his attitude towards closed source software, IP, etc, but his charity contributions are awesome. Compare him and his family with the current generation Waltons, for example.
    - Cowicide 13y ago
      >I know hating is easy No, ass kissing is easy. Looking at the bigger picture and accounting for negative externalities is hard. And, it's much harder when one is surrounded by ass kissers who are willing to gloss over negatives in their rush to pucker up. It's about net sum gains for society. Bill Gates hasn't achieved that. He and his business practices have been a net loss for society overall.
  - mdmarra 13y ago
    What part of the article do you have a problem with?
    - Cowicide 13y ago
      It's the hero worship of a person like Bill Gates that I have a problem with. His corrupt, monopolistic, unethical business practices with Microsoft hurt and/or destroyed countless small businesses and consumers. Small businesses and individuals that would have given far more to charity than King Gates will ever give. In case you didn’t know, small businesses and individuals give vastly more money to charity than large corporations and Bill Gates do combined. Luckily for Bill Gates, there are plenty of suckers who can’t critically think their way out of wet paper bags and they end up celebrating this megalomaniacal idiot and forget all the damage he’s done because they only focus on his current charity. So, of course, new megalomaniacs will follow in his footsteps and take far more than they give to society and be celebrated as “heros” in the future… and the sick megalomanic/twit cycle continues. More… http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/the_gates_foundations_leverage.html http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/... http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-giving-ethics/2 http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation#Criticism4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundati...? Still don’t get it? Even more… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation Microsoft litigation Microsoft has been involved in numerous high-profile legal matters that involved litigation over the history of the company, including cases against the United States, the European Union, and competitors. In its 2008 annual report, Microsoft stated: (Here’s your homework: Calculate an estimate of all the harm to all these businesses above and get back with me) http://lists.essential.org/1998/info-policy-notes/msg00047.html http://lists.essential.org/1998/info-policy-notes/msg00047.h... (It goes way back, buddy) http://www.aaxnet.com/topics/msinc.html http://www.aaxnet.com/topics/msinc.html (It keeps going) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=304701 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=304701 (download the PDF there) Observe the countless examples here: http://thismatter.com/articles/microsoft.htm#tq1 http://thismatter.com/articles/microsoft.htm#tq1 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=241988 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=241988 (download the PDF there) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=502822 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=502822 (download the PDF there) http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0907/6205050a.html http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0907/6205050a.html (That “liberal” rag.. FORBES mag) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Vendor_lock-in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Vendor_l... Criticism of Microsoft Criticism of Microsoft has followed various aspects of its products and business practices. Issues with ease of use, robustness, and security of the company's software are common targets for critics. In the 2000s, a number of malware mishaps have targeted security flaws in Microsoft Windows and other programs. Microsoft is also accused of locking vendors and consumers into their products, and of not following and complying with existing standards in its software.Total cost of ownership comp The c... History of Anticompetitive behavior and consumer harm: http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072487933/46617/microsoft_case.pdf http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072487933/466... (a very enlightening read if you STILL don’t get it) http://www.cptech.org/ms/harm.html http://www.cptech.org/ms/harm.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/part1.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/part1.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/table.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/table.html http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1016972/nvidia-blames-microsoft-stock-write http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1016972/nvidia-blam... http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/your-loss-their-gain-327?page=0,0 http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/your-loss-their-gain-32... http://www.fool.com/cashking/1998/cashkingport981118.htm http://www.fool.com/cashking/1998/cashkingport981118.htm http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/6/21/61725/2457 http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/6/21/61725... http://www.maxframe.com/DR/Info/fullstory/ca_sues_ms.html http://www.maxframe.com/DR/Info/fullstory/ca_sues_ms.html Microsoft entered into anticompetitive and exclusionary agreements with OLSs and ISPs http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm#vii http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm#vii I guess if I beat the hell out of someone’s grandmother, steal her purse, then graciously give her back a couple of bucks, you’ll deem me a hero? So, perhaps even after reading all that above, you still think Billy Boy is a Robin Hood who stole from the first world to give to the third world, perhaps? If you read through those links I posted above you would have seen this: The effects of anti-competitive business practices on developing countries and their development prospects: http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf What about his public relations charity? Does that not offset all the damage he's done? No, not even close... The Gates Foundation investments include companies that worsen poverty in developing countries, pollute heavily and supports pharmaceutical companies that don’t sell into the developing world. Also, he’s doing it wrong… By pouring most contributions into the fight against such high-profile killers, Gates is diverting staff from basic care. This form of “brain drain”, pulls away trained staff from children and those suffering from other common killers. The focus on a few diseases has shortchanged basic needs such as nutrition and transportation. Gates-funded vaccination programs have instructed caregivers to ignore – even discourage patients from discussing – ailments that the vaccinations cannot prevent. The Gates Foundation harms global health by diverting resources from other important local health care services. The foundation diverts medical professionals from other parts of developing nations’ health care systems; the health care systems’ ability to provide care diminishes (except in the area the foundation funds) and the charities do more harm than good. (This has been backed up by several prominent investigations, look it up yourself) The Gates Foundation is also undermining public education and exerts too much influence over public education policy without being accountable to voters or tax payers. The reforms include closing neighborhood schools in favor of privately run charter schools, forcing standardized tests which have been proven to harm education (just ask teachers, educational professionals, etc.). What should you learn from this? It’s better to have decentralized sources of charity coming from many sources instead of one collective source. Unfortunately, Gates helped to hinder and in many cases completely detroy entities that would have not only given vastly more to charity, but would have also done it in a far more diversified and effective manner. It’s ironic as hell. Bill Gate’s monopoly helped usher in an era of rampant malware for decades because of the lack of platform diversity. Educate yourself here at this link. http://cryptome.org/cyberinsecurity.htm http://cryptome.org/cyberinsecurity.htm This cost average consumers and businesses worldwide in the trillions (many of whom were able to give less to charity because of this, by the way). Many businesses and consumers were rail-roaded into using his subpar products and services via his unethical, anti-competitive, monopolistic business practices (see the many, many links I’ve already posted if you still doubt this, OK???) The sick irony: He’s now using those same ill-gotten profits (that hurts the world in the past, present and future with a lack of diversification ) and is giving it to the developing world in an ironically non-diversified manner and hurting them as well (with his know-it-all, megalomaniacal arrogance). As Bill Gates was with Microsoft, he’s too arrogant to look at the big picture. Then again, if Gates looks at the big picture, he’d see what a piece of crap he is – so can’t have that… Keep kissing the masters feet. But, some of us who are critical thinkers and don’t wallow in ignorance know the emperor’s got no clothes on. Sure, I’m glad he’s at least paying a tragically small pittance to all the worldwide damage he’s caused, but please forgive me for not celebrating the megalomaniacal idiot either.
- Blahah 13y ago
  > the chance to be educated with the help of Bill&Melinda foundation Not just educated, but nourished and relatively healthy. BMF has done a lot to make the world better.
  - sentenza 13y ago
    In a way I'm happy he is not involved with Microsoft's day-to-day operations any more. So I can now cultivate some respect for Bill Gates the person while still vehemently opposing Microsoft and its dominance.
    - pistle 13y ago
      You did see where he's transitioning to a more active role since the CEO change? Both hats shall be worn.
- mcherm 13y ago
  s/Bills/Gates/
alexeisadeski3 13y ago
Presumably their kids will manage the multi billion dollar trust.
- zimpenfish 13y ago
  Isn't his goal to have given it "all" (leaving a few tens of millions for the kids) to charity before he dies?
  - alexeisadeski3 13y ago
    Yes, and presumably the kids would manage the charity. Or maybe not. Up to him/them. But that's what I'd do.
    - maxerickson 13y ago
      His public statements have been along the lines of deploying the money in the Gates Foundation before their deaths. Exactly because he doesn't think another big foundation existing forever will do much good.
    - davegardner 13y ago
      The Foundation won't be around forever. Its been setup to spend all of its funds within 20 years of Bill and Melinda's deaths.
RyanZAG 13y ago
Probably just some kind of tax loophole.
- uvTwitch 13y ago
  Bill Gates has already won at Money, why do you think he'd still be interested in playing?
  - Jach 13y ago
    What impresses me most about his epic win is that he's still #1 in the world for net worth (or occasionally #2 or #3) -- can you imagine if he was still actively trying to get even more personally wealthy?
- mdmarra 13y ago
  What exactly is the tax benefit to giving away almost all of your wealth? Tax loopholes reduce your taxable income, which lowers your tax liability. I don't see how you can come out ahead giving away almost everything. Can you explain what you think he is exploiting and what the benefit could be?
arsemouflon 13y ago
This comes as a huge surprise!
yabbadabbadoo 13y ago
The best actionable advice I've read to date regarding giving money to kids without spoiling them - For every dollar they earn, give them $N. That way they have to work, but they don't have to work a repulsive yuppie job to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/ http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/
- Fede_V 13y ago
  I understand the logic behind it, but I disagree. If you are a very wealth person and your children decide to become volunteers for the red cross, you'll give them less money than if they decide to become bankers on Wall Street?
  - thret 13y ago
    I think just setting up a baseline income for life would be sufficient. Say 100k/year. Enough that they can comfortably pursue whatever makes them happy, without being rich.
    - nbouscal 13y ago
      Essentially a family-only basic income guarantee? Sounds like the best idea in the thread so far.
    - bertil 13y ago
      I know someone with that kind of plan, and it isn’t such a good idea: her, and her family pretty much fight over money a lot (and how to work around the situations unexpected by the trust fund rulings); they work soul-crushing yuppy jobs because they were raised to think 100k is nothing, and you can't live without 250, but they all have short-term gratification issues, meaning holding anything that makes 150k/y is near impossible. Most female members of that family can be described as gold-diggers that use the 100 as seed for that endeavour: you'd never suspect how expensive is the re-starter kit for that profession.
      - 13y ago
tluyben2 13y ago
Bill Gates has always said he wouldn't do that. This is not news; good he is not coming back on it though.
onion2k 13y ago
They aren't alone. There's a movement called "The Giving Pledge" started by the Gates' and Warren Buffet that very wealthy people (read: billionaires) are signing up to that promises they will give away at least half of their fortune. Over 100 have signed up so far. You can read about them all here: http://givingpledge.org/ http://givingpledge.org/
- ttctciyf 13y ago
  Can someone create thetakingpledge.com/ so that I can sign up?
  - bertil 13y ago
    Yes, but the exact URLs are oxfam.co.uk, redcross.org and telethon.org Organisations focused on the people in need, but operated by people with money have been too much under the spotlight, allowing many to give hardly anything yet enough to set up a photo op. The point of the Giving Pledge is to focus on how much someone can give without harming a reasonable lifestyle.
  - joyofdata 13y ago
    That means you are willing to receive have of your fortune?
- Cuuugi 13y ago
  What about Gate's investments? Ruthless crap like the CCA. http://cca.com/ http://cca.com/ Gates is STILL the richest man in the world. He didnt get that way by participating in the http://givingpledge.org/ http://givingpledge.org/, which is years old now.
  - tanzam75 13y ago
    > Gates is STILL the richest man in the world. He didnt get that way by participating in the http://givingpledge.org/ http://givingpledge.org/, which is years old now. This is just a laughable straw man. And you bothered to create a new account just to repeat it? He got that way despite participating in the Giving Plesge. If he hadn't been giving away his money, he'd have more than $100 billion by now.
downandout 13y ago
Let's not get carried away with this - it's pretty disingenuous. Most people are motivated to work, at least in part, because they will starve and be homeless if they don't. I doubt that these kids will ever face the threat of such a fate, regardless of how much they mess up or how lazy they are. Further, regardless of how much money they are actually left, those children will live billionaire lifestyles for the rest of their lives. Out of security concerns, Bill has likely arranged for bodyguards and ensured that they will be able to travel via private jet for the rest of their lives. The Gates family owns multiple homes, one in Washington being over 50,000 square feet, that will likely stay in the family and where the children would presumably be allowed to stay should they choose. Hopefully his kids choose to be productive. But the idea behind this - that he is leaving them enough to "do anything they want, but not enough to do nothing" - simply isn't true. They could do nothing and be just fine.
- thefreeman 13y ago
  How is it disingenuous. You have presented a bunch of opinions of what you think is going to happen and say that therefore, the statement is false. The Gates' have billions of dollars. I have seen it stated that each kid will be inheriting something like a million dollars, which yes, is a lot of money, but nowhere near enough money to do nothing for the rest of your life, and a drop in the bucket compared to the family fortune. Just because you "presume" the family estates, etc., will not be sold for charity despite all of their statements otherwise doesn't make it true.
  - droopybuns 13y ago
    It has been 5 years since gates formed the giving pledge. In that time, he lost and regained the position as the world's richest man. This is not supportive of a claim that this is genuine. I'm a little tired of the wealthy bragging about how they are like, totally generous and stuff.
    - tanzam75 13y ago
      > IIt has been 5 years since gates formed the giving pledge. In that time, he lost and regained the position as the world's richest man. This is not supportive of a claim that this is genuine.* Huh? Bill Gates has most of his wealth in US equities. Thus US stock market returned over 30% last year. Warren Buffett has almost all of his wealth in Berkshire Hathaway. BRK underperformed the stock market last year. Carlos Slim has almost all of his wealth in Mexican companies. The Mexican stock market returned -10% last year. It's not hard to see how Bill Gates increased his wealth relative to his competitors, despite giving away billions of dollars every year. What's more, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given away $30 billion since it was established. Where do you think the money came from? Warren Buffett's contributions have thus far been in the single-digit billions. If you stop believing in conspiracy theories and try looking at the data, you'll understand the world a lot better.
mcv 13y ago
Sounds remarkably sensible. I'd do the same in their place: leave your kids well-educated and pretty well-off, but not filthy rich. Let them make their own life, rather than living off daddy's riches.
chrisBob 13y ago
Our plan is to not let the kids know how much money we have. It obviously doesn't work if you are a billionare, but you can hide the first few million dollars living in a decent house in the Carolinas as long as you don't feel the need to drive a Porsche. I don't understand why anyone would want to raise an entitled brat.
- newaccountfool 13y ago
  Unless your kids are stupid then I don't see how that is going to work. They will realise.
  - thefreeman 13y ago
    It doesn't really matter if they realize. Just because they know you have money doesn't mean you have to spoil them with it.
    - newaccountfool 13y ago
      I understand that, but the guys intentions where to hide it from them.
  - chrisBob 13y ago
    It is easy to tell how much money someone spends, but much harder to tell how much they make. Maybe it depends on the job. My parents' salaries are public record, but that isn't the case for most people.
  - 398cn3erf 13y ago
    I had no idea that my parents were (moderately) wealthy until I had to fill out the financial aide application for colleges. They never talked about how much they made and gave us little money. I was the last to have a Gameboy among my friends and had the smallest allowance. It may also have helped that I had no interest in cars, so I didn't realize that driving BMW/Mercedes had any significance, and we had never stayed at a hotel that wasn't 5-stars so I just assumed all of them were like that.
bayesianhorse 13y ago
I could care less if their children are leading productive lives. Leaving them some amount of money is probably not going to change a lot either way. For that matter I don't care much if anybody "has to work for a living". Anything else would be jealousy.
stkni 13y ago
I think I could've guessed this about Bill and Melinda based on what we already know about their non-billionaire like lifestyle. It's an approach to be lauded, but one thing their children will always have is that they started out privileged which is itself a huge inheritance.
artumi-richard 13y ago
neither am i
bdavisx 13y ago
Hopefully they will leave something in case one or more of the kids "fall down" later in life. I think Bill and Melinda might be discounting the luck factor that they have had in their own fortune. While I'm not saying that they didn't work their butts off to get where they are, there was a lot of luck involved as well. Imagine how they would feel if, after they were gone (and I realize they can't feel anything at that point...), one of their kids was in their 50's and lost everything because of bad luck - cancer or other disease for example. Then the "kid" had to live his/her life out in poverty. How sad would that be that he/she had the richest parents in the world (due to good luck) but lived in poverty because of bad luck.
- hnal943 13y ago
  I think giving them a million dollars to start and teaching them to work gives them a better-than-average chance to avoid "bad luck." Doing nothing at all with the money except living on the interest would give them a middle class salary.
MarkTee 13y ago
Andrew Carnegie recommended this in "The Gospel of Wealth" (written in 1889): http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;rgn=full%20text;idno=nora0148-6;didno=nora0148-6;view=image;seq=0661;node=nora0148-6%3A1 http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx...
chiurox 13y ago
Even if their kids aren't left with much money, they will definitely leverage their parents' influence across so many areas and be able to do anything they want.
badman_ting 13y ago
Their name/lineage and connections to community (ie, forms of wealth that can't be quantified nor taken away) will be enough to live a life most of us only dream of. Of course I still think it's nice that the Gateses are doing this.
xname 13y ago
I am glad Darwin's parent did not think this way.

74 points by ibsathish 13y ago

jw2013 13y ago

They left the most valuable gift to their children - great education from their parents, and they gave the most valuable present to some less priviledged children in the world - the chance to be educated with the help of Bill&Melinda foundation. Well done, Bills.

icebraining 13y ago
"Bills"?
- mnml_ 13y ago
  Gates
Cowicide 13y ago
That was some nice ass kissing. Megalomaniacs love it when people do that.
- sanoli 13y ago
  That was some nice sticking it to the man. Megalomaniacs hate it when people do that.
  - Cowicide 13y ago
    With the multitudes of ass kissers, I'm sure criticism means very little to those who screw over average citizens and still want to be thanked for it.. no, loved for it.
- Fede_V 13y ago
  I know hating is easy, but this is a genuinely commendable thing that the Gates are doing, and they deserve praise for it. If you want to call out Gates, you can criticize his attitude towards closed source software, IP, etc, but his charity contributions are awesome. Compare him and his family with the current generation Waltons, for example.
  - Cowicide 13y ago
    >I know hating is easy No, ass kissing is easy. Looking at the bigger picture and accounting for negative externalities is hard. And, it's much harder when one is surrounded by ass kissers who are willing to gloss over negatives in their rush to pucker up. It's about net sum gains for society. Bill Gates hasn't achieved that. He and his business practices have been a net loss for society overall.
- mdmarra 13y ago
  What part of the article do you have a problem with?
  - Cowicide 13y ago
    It's the hero worship of a person like Bill Gates that I have a problem with. His corrupt, monopolistic, unethical business practices with Microsoft hurt and/or destroyed countless small businesses and consumers. Small businesses and individuals that would have given far more to charity than King Gates will ever give. In case you didn’t know, small businesses and individuals give vastly more money to charity than large corporations and Bill Gates do combined. Luckily for Bill Gates, there are plenty of suckers who can’t critically think their way out of wet paper bags and they end up celebrating this megalomaniacal idiot and forget all the damage he’s done because they only focus on his current charity. So, of course, new megalomaniacs will follow in his footsteps and take far more than they give to society and be celebrated as “heros” in the future… and the sick megalomanic/twit cycle continues. More… http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/the_gates_foundations_leverage.html http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/... http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-giving-ethics/2 http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation#Criticism4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundati...? Still don’t get it? Even more… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation Microsoft litigation Microsoft has been involved in numerous high-profile legal matters that involved litigation over the history of the company, including cases against the United States, the European Union, and competitors. In its 2008 annual report, Microsoft stated: (Here’s your homework: Calculate an estimate of all the harm to all these businesses above and get back with me) http://lists.essential.org/1998/info-policy-notes/msg00047.html http://lists.essential.org/1998/info-policy-notes/msg00047.h... (It goes way back, buddy) http://www.aaxnet.com/topics/msinc.html http://www.aaxnet.com/topics/msinc.html (It keeps going) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=304701 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=304701 (download the PDF there) Observe the countless examples here: http://thismatter.com/articles/microsoft.htm#tq1 http://thismatter.com/articles/microsoft.htm#tq1 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=241988 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=241988 (download the PDF there) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=502822 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=502822 (download the PDF there) http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0907/6205050a.html http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0907/6205050a.html (That “liberal” rag.. FORBES mag) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Vendor_lock-in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Vendor_l... Criticism of Microsoft Criticism of Microsoft has followed various aspects of its products and business practices. Issues with ease of use, robustness, and security of the company's software are common targets for critics. In the 2000s, a number of malware mishaps have targeted security flaws in Microsoft Windows and other programs. Microsoft is also accused of locking vendors and consumers into their products, and of not following and complying with existing standards in its software.Total cost of ownership comp The c... History of Anticompetitive behavior and consumer harm: http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072487933/46617/microsoft_case.pdf http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072487933/466... (a very enlightening read if you STILL don’t get it) http://www.cptech.org/ms/harm.html http://www.cptech.org/ms/harm.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/part1.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/part1.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/table.html http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/table.html http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1016972/nvidia-blames-microsoft-stock-write http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1016972/nvidia-blam... http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/your-loss-their-gain-327?page=0,0 http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/your-loss-their-gain-32... http://www.fool.com/cashking/1998/cashkingport981118.htm http://www.fool.com/cashking/1998/cashkingport981118.htm http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/6/21/61725/2457 http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/6/21/61725... http://www.maxframe.com/DR/Info/fullstory/ca_sues_ms.html http://www.maxframe.com/DR/Info/fullstory/ca_sues_ms.html Microsoft entered into anticompetitive and exclusionary agreements with OLSs and ISPs http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm#vii http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm#vii I guess if I beat the hell out of someone’s grandmother, steal her purse, then graciously give her back a couple of bucks, you’ll deem me a hero? So, perhaps even after reading all that above, you still think Billy Boy is a Robin Hood who stole from the first world to give to the third world, perhaps? If you read through those links I posted above you would have seen this: The effects of anti-competitive business practices on developing countries and their development prospects: http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf http://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcclp20082_en.pdf What about his public relations charity? Does that not offset all the damage he's done? No, not even close... The Gates Foundation investments include companies that worsen poverty in developing countries, pollute heavily and supports pharmaceutical companies that don’t sell into the developing world. Also, he’s doing it wrong… By pouring most contributions into the fight against such high-profile killers, Gates is diverting staff from basic care. This form of “brain drain”, pulls away trained staff from children and those suffering from other common killers. The focus on a few diseases has shortchanged basic needs such as nutrition and transportation. Gates-funded vaccination programs have instructed caregivers to ignore – even discourage patients from discussing – ailments that the vaccinations cannot prevent. The Gates Foundation harms global health by diverting resources from other important local health care services. The foundation diverts medical professionals from other parts of developing nations’ health care systems; the health care systems’ ability to provide care diminishes (except in the area the foundation funds) and the charities do more harm than good. (This has been backed up by several prominent investigations, look it up yourself) The Gates Foundation is also undermining public education and exerts too much influence over public education policy without being accountable to voters or tax payers. The reforms include closing neighborhood schools in favor of privately run charter schools, forcing standardized tests which have been proven to harm education (just ask teachers, educational professionals, etc.). What should you learn from this? It’s better to have decentralized sources of charity coming from many sources instead of one collective source. Unfortunately, Gates helped to hinder and in many cases completely detroy entities that would have not only given vastly more to charity, but would have also done it in a far more diversified and effective manner. It’s ironic as hell. Bill Gate’s monopoly helped usher in an era of rampant malware for decades because of the lack of platform diversity. Educate yourself here at this link. http://cryptome.org/cyberinsecurity.htm http://cryptome.org/cyberinsecurity.htm This cost average consumers and businesses worldwide in the trillions (many of whom were able to give less to charity because of this, by the way). Many businesses and consumers were rail-roaded into using his subpar products and services via his unethical, anti-competitive, monopolistic business practices (see the many, many links I’ve already posted if you still doubt this, OK???) The sick irony: He’s now using those same ill-gotten profits (that hurts the world in the past, present and future with a lack of diversification ) and is giving it to the developing world in an ironically non-diversified manner and hurting them as well (with his know-it-all, megalomaniacal arrogance). As Bill Gates was with Microsoft, he’s too arrogant to look at the big picture. Then again, if Gates looks at the big picture, he’d see what a piece of crap he is – so can’t have that… Keep kissing the masters feet. But, some of us who are critical thinkers and don’t wallow in ignorance know the emperor’s got no clothes on. Sure, I’m glad he’s at least paying a tragically small pittance to all the worldwide damage he’s caused, but please forgive me for not celebrating the megalomaniacal idiot either.
Blahah 13y ago
> the chance to be educated with the help of Bill&Melinda foundation Not just educated, but nourished and relatively healthy. BMF has done a lot to make the world better.
- sentenza 13y ago
  In a way I'm happy he is not involved with Microsoft's day-to-day operations any more. So I can now cultivate some respect for Bill Gates the person while still vehemently opposing Microsoft and its dominance.
  - pistle 13y ago
    You did see where he's transitioning to a more active role since the CEO change? Both hats shall be worn.
mcherm 13y ago
s/Bills/Gates/

alexeisadeski3 13y ago

Presumably their kids will manage the multi billion dollar trust.

zimpenfish 13y ago
Isn't his goal to have given it "all" (leaving a few tens of millions for the kids) to charity before he dies?
- alexeisadeski3 13y ago
  Yes, and presumably the kids would manage the charity. Or maybe not. Up to him/them. But that's what I'd do.
  - maxerickson 13y ago
    His public statements have been along the lines of deploying the money in the Gates Foundation before their deaths. Exactly because he doesn't think another big foundation existing forever will do much good.
  - davegardner 13y ago
    The Foundation won't be around forever. Its been setup to spend all of its funds within 20 years of Bill and Melinda's deaths.

RyanZAG 13y ago

Probably just some kind of tax loophole.

uvTwitch 13y ago
Bill Gates has already won at Money, why do you think he'd still be interested in playing?
- Jach 13y ago
  What impresses me most about his epic win is that he's still #1 in the world for net worth (or occasionally #2 or #3) -- can you imagine if he was still actively trying to get even more personally wealthy?
mdmarra 13y ago
What exactly is the tax benefit to giving away almost all of your wealth? Tax loopholes reduce your taxable income, which lowers your tax liability. I don't see how you can come out ahead giving away almost everything. Can you explain what you think he is exploiting and what the benefit could be?

arsemouflon 13y ago

This comes as a huge surprise!

yabbadabbadoo 13y ago

The best actionable advice I've read to date regarding giving money to kids without spoiling them - For every dollar they earn, give them $N. That way they have to work, but they don't have to work a repulsive yuppie job to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/ http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/

Fede_V 13y ago
I understand the logic behind it, but I disagree. If you are a very wealth person and your children decide to become volunteers for the red cross, you'll give them less money than if they decide to become bankers on Wall Street?
- thret 13y ago
  I think just setting up a baseline income for life would be sufficient. Say 100k/year. Enough that they can comfortably pursue whatever makes them happy, without being rich.
  - nbouscal 13y ago
    Essentially a family-only basic income guarantee? Sounds like the best idea in the thread so far.
  - bertil 13y ago
    I know someone with that kind of plan, and it isn’t such a good idea: her, and her family pretty much fight over money a lot (and how to work around the situations unexpected by the trust fund rulings); they work soul-crushing yuppy jobs because they were raised to think 100k is nothing, and you can't live without 250, but they all have short-term gratification issues, meaning holding anything that makes 150k/y is near impossible. Most female members of that family can be described as gold-diggers that use the 100 as seed for that endeavour: you'd never suspect how expensive is the re-starter kit for that profession.
    - 13y ago

tluyben2 13y ago

Bill Gates has always said he wouldn't do that. This is not news; good he is not coming back on it though.

onion2k 13y ago

They aren't alone. There's a movement called "The Giving Pledge" started by the Gates' and Warren Buffet that very wealthy people (read: billionaires) are signing up to that promises they will give away at least half of their fortune. Over 100 have signed up so far. You can read about them all here: http://givingpledge.org/ http://givingpledge.org/

ttctciyf 13y ago
Can someone create thetakingpledge.com/ so that I can sign up?
- bertil 13y ago
  Yes, but the exact URLs are oxfam.co.uk, redcross.org and telethon.org Organisations focused on the people in need, but operated by people with money have been too much under the spotlight, allowing many to give hardly anything yet enough to set up a photo op. The point of the Giving Pledge is to focus on how much someone can give without harming a reasonable lifestyle.
- joyofdata 13y ago
  That means you are willing to receive have of your fortune?
Cuuugi 13y ago
What about Gate's investments? Ruthless crap like the CCA. http://cca.com/ http://cca.com/ Gates is STILL the richest man in the world. He didnt get that way by participating in the http://givingpledge.org/ http://givingpledge.org/, which is years old now.
- tanzam75 13y ago
  > Gates is STILL the richest man in the world. He didnt get that way by participating in the http://givingpledge.org/ http://givingpledge.org/, which is years old now. This is just a laughable straw man. And you bothered to create a new account just to repeat it? He got that way despite participating in the Giving Plesge. If he hadn't been giving away his money, he'd have more than $100 billion by now.

downandout 13y ago

Let's not get carried away with this - it's pretty disingenuous. Most people are motivated to work, at least in part, because they will starve and be homeless if they don't. I doubt that these kids will ever face the threat of such a fate, regardless of how much they mess up or how lazy they are. Further, regardless of how much money they are actually left, those children will live billionaire lifestyles for the rest of their lives. Out of security concerns, Bill has likely arranged for bodyguards and ensured that they will be able to travel via private jet for the rest of their lives. The Gates family owns multiple homes, one in Washington being over 50,000 square feet, that will likely stay in the family and where the children would presumably be allowed to stay should they choose. Hopefully his kids choose to be productive. But the idea behind this - that he is leaving them enough to "do anything they want, but not enough to do nothing" - simply isn't true. They could do nothing and be just fine.

thefreeman 13y ago
How is it disingenuous. You have presented a bunch of opinions of what you think is going to happen and say that therefore, the statement is false. The Gates' have billions of dollars. I have seen it stated that each kid will be inheriting something like a million dollars, which yes, is a lot of money, but nowhere near enough money to do nothing for the rest of your life, and a drop in the bucket compared to the family fortune. Just because you "presume" the family estates, etc., will not be sold for charity despite all of their statements otherwise doesn't make it true.
- droopybuns 13y ago
  It has been 5 years since gates formed the giving pledge. In that time, he lost and regained the position as the world's richest man. This is not supportive of a claim that this is genuine. I'm a little tired of the wealthy bragging about how they are like, totally generous and stuff.
  - tanzam75 13y ago
    > IIt has been 5 years since gates formed the giving pledge. In that time, he lost and regained the position as the world's richest man. This is not supportive of a claim that this is genuine.* Huh? Bill Gates has most of his wealth in US equities. Thus US stock market returned over 30% last year. Warren Buffett has almost all of his wealth in Berkshire Hathaway. BRK underperformed the stock market last year. Carlos Slim has almost all of his wealth in Mexican companies. The Mexican stock market returned -10% last year. It's not hard to see how Bill Gates increased his wealth relative to his competitors, despite giving away billions of dollars every year. What's more, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given away $30 billion since it was established. Where do you think the money came from? Warren Buffett's contributions have thus far been in the single-digit billions. If you stop believing in conspiracy theories and try looking at the data, you'll understand the world a lot better.

mcv 13y ago

Sounds remarkably sensible. I'd do the same in their place: leave your kids well-educated and pretty well-off, but not filthy rich. Let them make their own life, rather than living off daddy's riches.

chrisBob 13y ago

Our plan is to not let the kids know how much money we have. It obviously doesn't work if you are a billionare, but you can hide the first few million dollars living in a decent house in the Carolinas as long as you don't feel the need to drive a Porsche. I don't understand why anyone would want to raise an entitled brat.

newaccountfool 13y ago
Unless your kids are stupid then I don't see how that is going to work. They will realise.
- thefreeman 13y ago
  It doesn't really matter if they realize. Just because they know you have money doesn't mean you have to spoil them with it.
  - newaccountfool 13y ago
    I understand that, but the guys intentions where to hide it from them.
- chrisBob 13y ago
  It is easy to tell how much money someone spends, but much harder to tell how much they make. Maybe it depends on the job. My parents' salaries are public record, but that isn't the case for most people.
- 398cn3erf 13y ago
  I had no idea that my parents were (moderately) wealthy until I had to fill out the financial aide application for colleges. They never talked about how much they made and gave us little money. I was the last to have a Gameboy among my friends and had the smallest allowance. It may also have helped that I had no interest in cars, so I didn't realize that driving BMW/Mercedes had any significance, and we had never stayed at a hotel that wasn't 5-stars so I just assumed all of them were like that.

bayesianhorse 13y ago

I could care less if their children are leading productive lives. Leaving them some amount of money is probably not going to change a lot either way. For that matter I don't care much if anybody "has to work for a living". Anything else would be jealousy.

stkni 13y ago

I think I could've guessed this about Bill and Melinda based on what we already know about their non-billionaire like lifestyle. It's an approach to be lauded, but one thing their children will always have is that they started out privileged which is itself a huge inheritance.

artumi-richard 13y ago

neither am i

bdavisx 13y ago

Hopefully they will leave something in case one or more of the kids "fall down" later in life. I think Bill and Melinda might be discounting the luck factor that they have had in their own fortune. While I'm not saying that they didn't work their butts off to get where they are, there was a lot of luck involved as well. Imagine how they would feel if, after they were gone (and I realize they can't feel anything at that point...), one of their kids was in their 50's and lost everything because of bad luck - cancer or other disease for example. Then the "kid" had to live his/her life out in poverty. How sad would that be that he/she had the richest parents in the world (due to good luck) but lived in poverty because of bad luck.

hnal943 13y ago
I think giving them a million dollars to start and teaching them to work gives them a better-than-average chance to avoid "bad luck." Doing nothing at all with the money except living on the interest would give them a middle class salary.

MarkTee 13y ago

Andrew Carnegie recommended this in "The Gospel of Wealth" (written in 1889): http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;rgn=full%20text;idno=nora0148-6;didno=nora0148-6;view=image;seq=0661;node=nora0148-6%3A1 http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx...

chiurox 13y ago

Even if their kids aren't left with much money, they will definitely leverage their parents' influence across so many areas and be able to do anything they want.

badman_ting 13y ago

Their name/lineage and connections to community (ie, forms of wealth that can't be quantified nor taken away) will be enough to live a life most of us only dream of. Of course I still think it's nice that the Gateses are doing this.

xname 13y ago

I am glad Darwin's parent did not think this way.