Buffett funds Gates’ foundation

ellison can't even follow through on his commitments:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13448631/

I do not think Warren Buffet would have given his wealth to Gate’s foundation if Bill was not planning to run it himself. So we as world’s citizen have already gotten 200% efficiency of Bill shifting his time from Microsoft to his foundation.

In reality (koolaid-free reality), Bill Gates hasn't given all that much. He's endowed a lot into a foundation that he controls, and this money is conveniently sheltered from lawsuits and taxes. If you look at the Gates Foundation's charitable giving, it's actually been at the minimum level required by federal law. I'm talking about money (well, actually mostly computers running Windows 98 and Office 2000, with Wordperfect 5.1 thrown in to show off the "competition" - that was in 2004!) that has actually gone to the needy, not to a charitable corporate-like entity that, at last glance, paid Bill's wife $600k a year for overseeing its staff.

http://www.nhf.org/charitable_planning/ted_turn...

Philanthropy is big business. I certainly hope Bill Gates does not monopolize the charity world the way he has managed to monopolize the software industry.

Well it is certainly easier to give away 85% if the rest is still some billions. :)

I am from a poor country Robert. I feel that the best help that can Bill Gates and Warren Buffet give us is give every family a PC and free software with internet connectivity. The digital divide is too much for us and if our people do not have access to PC and internet (now 90% of people in south asia do not have this access), then people will always suffer. If one person from a family can shine then the whole family can have a secure future.
Just imagine Robert, if you did not have access to computer and internet for your whole life!

Robert:

Razib has a good idea for the destination of some of the philanthropy of Bill and Warren. Of course, it would also be beneficial to the people from poor countries if there was a power source that could reliably power the PC's, the data centers, the air conditioning, and the lighting that would help to give their young people a chance at better educations.

Add enough power to supply refrigerators to keep their food from spoiling, pumps to filter their water supplies, and stoves to heat their food without spending all day collecting firewood and then you really have done something.

Yesterday you mentioned something about Al Gore facing a hard truth that it is possible to use nuclear power to replace coal fired power plants. I imagine that you are aware that there have been nuclear powered submarines operating all over the world during the past 50 years. The engines powering those boats are reliable and capable of producing power in the most remote regions of the world for decades.

Investments to develop similar sized atomic engines for power generation in remote or poor regions could pay huge dividends both in humanitarian and ecological benefits. Heck, it might even turn a serious profit since uranium based fuels are currently selling for less than 10% of the cost of oil or natural gas per unit energy. Maybe you can mention this idea to some of your rich friends.

As commenter #5 noted, I too have roots in the third world. It is a fine balance between providing stuff that has immediate benefit -- food, clean water, shelter -- and that which has a longer term benefit -- access to the Internet, access to cheap reliable computers -- and I believe that BOTH should be pursued simultaneously. All those people who scoff and say "Giving Africans PCs is useless when they can't have clean water to drink" are as wrong-headed as those who say "Forget about a malaria vaccine, give 'em all XBOX 360s". These needs are NOT mutually exclusive, and they can be and should be met at the same time. The sticking point in the past has been the lack of targeted funds. Despite the cynical attitude of commenter #2 (who, in contrast to Mr. Gates, probably hasn't given ANYTHING AT ALL to ANY charity, and definitely hasn't done it at the scale of Gates), I believe that what Mr. Buffett & Mr. Gates have done is remarkable, and worthy of praise.

I also agree with you, that people like the Walton family (who collectively are richer than Gates & Buffett put together), Steve Jobs, Paul Allen, and especially Larry "get me a new yacht, I'm bored" Ellison should all step up to the plate. Enough conspicuous consumption. You can't take it with you. That is the real motivation behind what Buffett has done. All his billions will never save him from death, and he can best have the impact he desires by re-distributing his wealth, now, while he's still alive. As Ted Turner said when he pledged $1 billion of his money to the UN (when he was worth around $3 billion), with one billion less in his pocket he's still a billionaire, so what's the point in hanging on to it?

I was shocked after seeing the news.. Buffest has done really great job.

Who cares what this says?

i don't know if this is the right site, i was looking for help for needy people, i understood that warren buffet was giving to people that need help. my husband has been disabled for 7 years. he hurt his back doing construction, he will soon go for his 5th back surgery. anyway we are both on social security, and are in dept on credit cards because we had to pay are fuel for the year,car insurance and had to hire someon to fix are barn it was going to fall down. our income is less than 21,000 a year. i hop you can help us.
thank you
nancy hammomd
p.o. box 92
65 churchill road
templeton,mass. 01468
tel# 978-939-8072