This has to be one of the greatest stories covered in the news this week. Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man, announced his plans to donate 85% of his fortune, or about $30.7 billion to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. $37,000,000,000.00. Wow. Look at all those zeros.
Buffett is so rich that he would never have to work another day in his life, nor would his children, grandchildren, and likely great-grandchildren. Instead of passing all the spoils on to his progeny who have grown up with silver spoons in their mouths, he decided to help the poorest people of the world by supporting the work of the foundation. Don't despair... his children are also receiving a portion of his wealth when he dies, and they'll have more than enough money to live out their days, but Buffett was quoted as saying, "Certainly neither Susie (his wife) nor I ever thought we should pass huge amounts of money along to our children. Our kids are great. But I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway, in terms of how they grow up and the opportunities they have for education, including what they learn at home - I would say it's neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money. In effect, they've had a gigantic headstart in a society that aspires to be a meritocracy. Dynastic mega-wealth would further tilt the playing field that we ought to be trying instead to level."
I absolutely love this story because it shows the goodness of man (or at least one man). Buffett could do anything he wanted with his fortune, but he has elected to give the vast majority away through a foundation that helps those less fortunate than most of us. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on education and health-related issues and their grants have ranged from over $1 billion to the United Negro College Fund to $110 million for Save the Children to $258 million for the Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Additionally, and especially now with Buffett's donation, the Foundation shows no signs of slowing down. Gates recently said that there is no reason why we can't cure the top 20 diseases of the world. I can only imagine how truly wonderful that would be.
It's so incredibly nice to hear some good news once in awhile, don't you agree?
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Lots and Lots of Zeros
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6 comments:
What about the Free Fletcher From Fatigue Fund?
I think two million is U.S. dollars should be sufficient..
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Amen, brother.
I believe there is a Defiantly Damned be Damned No More Fund as well.
What am I worth?
Priceless!
&
If my math is correct, that's $123 per American.
I think that's wonderful! So rarely do you hear about anyone successful today being philanthropic enough to share what he has earned, instead of hoarding it like a miser...excuse me for showing my age, Reagan was President when I was born, but isn't that where Reagan's "Trickle-Down Economy" went wrong? All the rich keeping their money for themselves and their progeny, instead of putting it back into the economy?
Thank you, Fletcher.
:::blushing:::
Heather, couldn't agree with you more. Trickle-down economics were just that... a trickle of money flowing down to us po' folk.
I know not many people are Clinton fans, but I have to say that the economy was never better than it was under his leadership. Life had not been that good, before or after Clinton's era.
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