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Let's see, expressed as a total of my reserve capital... minus outstanding debts... carry the one... I've donated twice as much as Bill, with my 20 dollar donation to the Tsunami relief fund.

In general I find the kind of people likely to give their money away, are not the kind of people likely to have any money to give.

(No offence meant to Mr. Gates, as he has given a lot more of his money to charitable causes than a lot of people, and even more importantly he seems to really care about them. No matter what you think about his business practices, the Bill and Melinda gates foundation has the largest endowment of any chairitible organization created in recent memory and will be doing positive things for the world long after the man has taken his blue screen of death to the black screen of death. Plus the B&M tend to be focused on practical things, and are pretty good about how they deal out grants.)

Sounds like an urban myth to me, since when does Bill Gates profit from selling AIDS drugs? .... I can't find a thing about it online, for what that's worth. What everyone here seems to be missing is that this is nowhere near the first, or most generous, donation Gates has made to worthy causes. Like the $168 million he gave to fund malaria research in 2003. At the time the entire PLANET only spent $100 million annually on this. Not to mention the more than $5 BILLION Gates and his wife have put into their foundation that exists solely to solve world health problems. BBC Article here Hey, I'm no fan of MS software either, but you can't call this guy cheap when it comes to donating to causes that tend to be ignored by most of the corporate world, particularily ones that solely effect 3rd world countries like malaria.

Yeah it's nice, buts its a PR stunt to improve his image none the less. How many donations to the needy did MS do when it was the darling of the press and loved by all as a shining example of American capitalism?

The more negative the image, the more he donates. It's standard operating procedure for any large company.

Check for yourself US vs MS timeline, MS vs Bad PR

I am glad he did it. But it does not change my opinion of him, because I know WHY he did it.

I don't think you understand what tax shelters are used for - they are used to hide gains. But Bill's not making billions of dollars a year. His net worth is tied up in stocks and investments. It's not taxes until he liquidates.

And, even if he is doing all of this charity for purely selfish reasons, you realize that even at the height of the .com boom his paper weath was, what, ~$90 billion, if I recall. So his charity encompasses a third of his net worth. (Forbes pegged his 2003 net worth at $40.7 billion.)

Once you donate more than one third of your net worth, then I think you have a right to talk some smack about Bill Gate's philantrophy - until then, you ought to respect his charity for the billions he's given to schools, AIDS research, etc. I fail to see how someone could chide his charity, even if that someone was a Linux zealot. It would be like an Arab or Jew saying Jesus did no good in his entire life.

Well, he is the biggest philanthropist in the world. Spending a billion dollars a year, mostly in vaccine research. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm

He has given 37% of his wealth to charity and has given more than a 1000% of what Warren Buffet, Michael Dell, Steve Ballmer, Paul Allen and Larry Ellison together.

Is that really not caring about anything else?

Here's a link to Forbes on the fact. http://www.forbes.com/philanthropy/2004/10/04/cz_e c_1004gates.html

Funny you should mention the Gates Foundation. The foundation has put together grand challenges in health that is a pretty interesting read. Some may say he's helping humanity because he wants more people alive to buy his products -- what a twisted thought. But deep down inside, he wants to make a lasting impression on the world, in all areas of technology, computers and medicine.

It's interesting to note, that the resounding theme of the grand challenges is that the quality of life for people in this world is not predicted by motivation, hard work, or intellect, but is largely influenced by one's geographic origin of birth. Hence, the grand challenges are not solely interested in new technologies, but bettering current technology to reach the masses.

With out the patent the drug would simply not exist.

Stop right there.

That is not an assertion you can make to support your argument without proving it.

In fact, it is almost certainly false.

Innovation does not disappear if (enforceable, useful-to-innovators) patents don't exist. Check history.

AIDS drugs and other drugs where there is a strong demand are still very likely to be money makers regardless of the patent system. And the new malaria vaccine, I understand that was funded using money from a private individual (ugh, bleah, it is the least he can do, but I wonder what rights he may maintain on it??).

What was I saying??

"Microsoft Money," as you put it, has done some very interesting and beneficial things. The X-Prize isn't the exception to the rule, it's pretty much the standard practice.

Let's examine this. If you were in charge of Microsoft, then those billions wouldn't exist in the first place!

The Gates foundation wouldn't have the tens of billions of dollars to do what they do (including curing deadly deseases, which is what you claim you want).

And even if you were to suddenly take over Microsoft, look at what you would do. You would piss it all away by liquidating the company, the very entity that makes it possible to do all this charity work.

This is a great example of why people like you should be kept as far away from policy as possible. You would rather dogmatically cling to your prejudicies than have actual results happen.

Forgive me for sounding like I'm defending Gates here, but you do know that he actually does a large amount of philanthropy, right? See the Gates Foundation , particularly their immunization efforts.

We *are* judging him for what he does and has done. This isn't the catholic church here. You can't spend your life screwing people over, confess, do a few good deeds and expect the sun to shine out of your arse.

It's like a king spending his 'working' years conquering and laying waste to the world to build his empire and then, in retirement building a few churches so as no to be remembered as 'King Bill, the utter shit'.

Like another poster mentioned, gangsters have a long tradition of philanthropy. Look how many people expressed grief at the death of Carlos Medellin. Still plenty of Cockneys (and mockneys in Essex) thinking highly of the Krays.

Bill Gates has no voice? This text taken from the foundation web site must be a mistake then.

"Along with his wife and co-founder, Melinda, Bill Gates provides strategic direction for the foundation, advocates for its core issues, and reviews its major grants"

By the way, it's 'Melinda Gates', not Belinda.

It's the bug-ridden, overpriced, unstable software his company sells - or better put licenses/rents - to you that I think sucks.

Basically I see gates as the ultimate Robin Hood character - stole billions from the rich corporations of america (individuals usually steal his stuff instead of pay anyway) - and gave huge amounts to the poor.

It's the bug-ridden, overpriced, unstable software his company sells - or better put licenses/rents - to you that I think sucks.

Basically I see gates as the ultimate Robin Hood character - stole billions from the rich corporations of america (individuals usually steal his stuff instead of pay anyway) - and gave huge amounts to the poor.

In this instance, Bill Gates may be just "giving unNeedy spoilded [sic] rich kids a chance," but you also have to remember that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/) has given away over $7 Billion. Most of the money goes towards global health improvements for the neediest of people all around the world. I'd say that after a contribution that large to all the needy people of the world, Bill should be entitled to spend less than half a percent of his donations encouraging some of the smartest students in the world to go into computer science.

This was just a more publicized event. For a detailed look at the grants take a look here. Regardless of what you think, he and his wife have given significantly in relatively few years.

Take off your tinfoil hat. I dislike microsoft as much as the next geek, but do you really think the gates foundation http://www.gatesfoundation.org/ is really trying to spread the "microsoft way"? Silly me, of course he's trying to convince starving kids dying of AIDS somewhere in africa to use windows! What a bastard.

Plus, CMU isn't the first CS department in the country whom I would give a building do and expect them to kowtow to me. Neither is MIT, who I believe he also donated a building to. Maybe he *gasp* cares about these schools and leaves the innoculation of Microsoft to Microsoft.

"giving away money effectively is almost as hard as earning it the first place."
-Bill Gates

Great quote, interesting article, not sure if I agree with it entirely, but the quote gives a cool perspective.

By the way the Bill & Melinda Society (or whatever) do a lot for charities, students, colleges, and NPO's.

As to who thinks there are better places to put resources, none other than Bill and Melinda Gates think so. Two of the high profile efforts are and AIDS vaccine and TB efforts, although there's plenty more fronts they're throwing financing at.

I remember an interview with him (can't find it online) where he recalled being at a meeting with dozens of people pitching high tech solutions to Third World problems and him rejecting almost all of them in favor of vaccines. He said it was silly to start laying down fiber optic cable (this was a few years before WiFi) in an area where you couldn't draw clean water from a well.

Now, don't get me wrong. Any effort that conveys health information or basic education to people who need it is, by definition, a Good Thing (TM). Also, this is an indigenous effort of Indians (presumably the Indian government) helping their own, not someone outside trying to find the best place to spend their money. One would assume (and the photos of healthy people in TFA certainly imply) they've already got their vaccination, clean water, and hunger plans already in place, so they might as well experiment with alternate education efforts.

Still, I have to wonder about the long term viability of this project. With India's struggling masses, you have to wonder if the money might be better spent elsewhere.

and you know this (they make a profit) how?

Because they're still in business. Even if they make exactly zero profit, it still proves the "no profit on iTMS" idea to be a crock. Occam's razor, my friend.

...and most illegal activity sells "goods" below market. Why? Because it didn't cost them anything (or little) to get it ... which is what makes Apple's claim of "no profit" so pathetic. Let me restate it, since you seem to be having trouble understanding.

1. Apple charges 99c per song, 35c of which goes straight to Apple.

2. AllofMP3.com charges ~four cents per song. Even if 100% of that goes to them, without paying any royalties, they're still able to stay in business.

3. Therefore, if allofmp3.com is able to cover their expenses (cc processing, bandwidth, hosting, electricity, staff, etc) on FOUR CENTS PER SONG (which is the high estimate, assuming no royalties being paid out), then Apple's claim of making no profit taking in 35c per song is complete bullshit.

And look, Steve Jobs proves me right, in a private conference call.

If apple sold 200 million songs, that fits right in with the $70 million profit figure that Jobs himself mentions.

Of course, publicly, he has a completely different story. Publicly, he pretends that they make no profit on iTMS. It's great PR, it fits in great with Jobs' bullshit faux-hippie image, and it works--

*Because he knows Apple zealots are too sheepish to do their own research.

*Because anyone who contradicts the word of Jobs is shouted down, even if Jobs' statements are completely illogical

This whole "no profit on iTMS" line is just like his famous "$1 salary". That's a load of horseshit too. Because along with that $1 salary, he also receives $74.7 million in restricted stock; Apple also provides him a private jet, which he leases back to Apple for $1.2 million in two years

Hate Microsoft and Real all you want. Their products certainly aren't the best. But Bill Gates actually does good things with his ill-gotten gains. Jobs pathologically lies about what he takes in, then keeps it for himself.

It irritates me even more when someone like Bill Gates or some incredibly weathly celebirty donats something like a few tens of thousand to someone or a charity.


You really didn't do your homework with regards to Bill Gates. So far he's given away money in the 10s of billions to the Gates foundation, which among other things is trying to vaccinate people in Africa against various diseases. Like him or dislike him, but don't put him in with the money hoarders.

It irritates me even more when someone like Bill Gates or some incredibly weathly celebirty donats something like a few tens of thousand to someone or a charity. WTF? Gates could donate 20 billion and still be worth billions. Whats he need it for? bragging rights?

You know, I don't like Bill Gates either, but there's no need to lie about his charity work. $7B is a lot of money, afer all.

if everyone just donated a small portion of their income, something they wouldn't even miss, you could pretty much wipe out worldwide hunger.

That's just naive. The problem isn't that we don't send enough food for people to eat. the problem is that local warlords use the food as a means of control. African hunger will never be solved until the political side is addressed, just like Africa will not be united until its people stop killing each other.

I agree that Bill is personally a great man.

"If you are compelled to give back to the community, then you don't have the opportunity to benefit from that knowledge," he stressed.


Now that is definately not what jesus would do...

How can a company run by such a benevolent man see fit to spread such FUD?

I wonder if any of the 200 computers came from a grant from Bill and Melinda? Gates Foundation

I wonder what would happen if a library that was given a couple dozen PC's by Bill Gates turned around and starting running Linux on them........

Technology may swoop down out of the sky to save us with some yet as uninvented and unimplemented device, even given that we have several candidates. But if we put in 100 times the amount of money into research today, we still would have a hard time of implementing those solutions in time. The market cannot help us because it will only become economical to do said research after the economy goes into its predetermined downslide, exactly when we don't have the funds available to do so. Oh, and the US has cut billions out of research precisely when we need it most. So, government won't do it and the market cannot.

Maybe wealthy individuals will step up to the plate and start to invest in the needed research. But mostly, they seem content to pull out of the stock market and purchase oil companies. And a good plan too. As oil costs mount, these companies stand to make billions and billions as oil's ever escalating cost give them a bottom line that anyone would drool over.

So, yeah, 1 seems most likely. Who knows, maybe the first billion deaths will cause us to stop and re-evaluate our lives and goals. But those anmial husbandry skills probably won't go to waste.

Thanks for the great post.

crulx

this money doesn't go to feed or clothe poor people

How do you know that? Have you ever heard of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

Not that I like Bill by any stretch. He justifies tyranny in one respect with philanthropy in other areas.

Too many Gates bashing posts here, on the basis of software for schools (as opposed to cash). To that end... I'm sure most of you have heard of this foundation, but perhaps your OS choice colours your view of the man. The fact is that these two have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to very worthy causes. A very important point was made by another poster in this thread who noted that MS is not just Bill Gates, but rather the thousands of shareholders that own the company.

So this "money" going to California schools may not make you feel warm and fuzzy, but follow the following...

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

And learn that Bill != Evil (at least, not always)

...since we wouldn't have the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Regardless of your feelings for Microsoft and Gates, you have to respect his philanthropy.

anywhere else that Billy has seen fit to leave his mark?

I hate to user the word in this context, but libraries...

What's sad is bill Gates has donated well over twenty billion dollars to charities, including his own and you all still bitch and moan and call him the great satan because he doesn't want you to see his source code. That's about 1/3 of his total net worth. In contrast, how much has our Vice President Dick Cheney donated to charity....a staggering 1%.

I'm posting AC because judging by your +4 insigtful score the mods are abusing their moderation points again and I don't feel like taking the karma hit.

And to top if off, he's now the most generous philanthropist too. His foundation, focused on fighting disease and promoting education will leave a bigger and longer lasting legacy than his business accomplishments.

Having some buildings names after him is a small token of apprecation in comparison to his generosity.

I'd be surprised if the total amount he's given away is more that $1B.

For someone with such a low user ID, you're pretty misinformed...

You should check out the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website sometime. I'm posting a link to their annual report. With almost $25B in assets, it has paid over a billion dollars in grants each year.

Grants for things like erradicating polio, improving nutrition for children, developing a vaccine for malaria, giving tens of millions in college scholarships and more.

I'm sorry if this doesn't seem to be enough for you -- but Bill Gates has made a committment to give away a substantial share of his wealth and he isn't waiting until he is dead to do it. I'd wager he is giving away a larger chunk of his net worth than almost anyone who is posting in this article.

The negative thoughts that many /.ers have for Microsoft in general and their top men in specific, Both Gates and Allen have long been active philanthropists. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation benefits "global health and learning" (directed by Bill Gates' father).

As mentioned in the story, Paul Allen has been a SETI supportor and funded the ATA.

I like to think that if I commanded that sort of wealth I would be as generous (as long as I'm dreaming, I'd be *more* generous).

Damn!!! Gates has been aging a lot recently.

If you can cite an example where Microsoft has tried to make the world a better place...

Sure. Here you go.

"Yet, given the track record of the current administration a [Bill] Gates lead government couldn't be worse."

Say what you want about his company, but as a philanthropist the guy is actively involved in some of the most worthy causes on the planet, with the billions to back it up.

By contrast, the current administration's lip service to stopping the spread of AIDS in Africa (they oppose condom use?!) is a joke, a fucking sad joke.

Cheers.

You make absloutely no sense. How does giving discounts to schools makes Steve Jobs smarter than Bill Gates? Bill gates provides educational discounts and has pledged $24 billion in donations. If you want to rate someone based on their net worth, Bill Gates is worth over $46 billion dollars, Steve Jobs is $1.7 billion . If you're the richest man in the world, you're pretty damn smart in my book.

what it will probably mean is less money donated, and more money spent bying off politicians.

That's downright AMAZING because their books don't show that number. They must have more than DOUBLED their contributions in the 2 years that aren't shown.

They did actually - maybe it would help if you would look at the current figures instead of the figures you cited which were two years old.

Re: Tracing current and past data to show possible future trends. There are no indications that the amounts this organization is donating will decrease. It has held firm for the past 4 years and I see no reason to believe it will decline in the next 10, barring some kind of major economic disaster. It would be reasonable to predict that the Bill Gates Foundation will have donated $28 billion total by 2016. Sure it could donate less, but it could also donate more. REASONABLE.

What I'm doing is pointing out that the amount of money he is giving is NOT THAT MUCH when it is calculated as a PERCENTAGE of his income.

I know that's what you're saying. And what I'm saying is WHO CARES. If you had READ MY POST IN THE AGGREGATE instead of PICKING APART EVERY SENTENCE INDIVIDUALLY like a COMPUTER PROGRAMMER you would have UNDERSTOOD THAT.

Now let me explain why it would be very stupid for any charity to blow their wad all at once and not keep a sizable treasure chest on hand. The Bill Gates Foundation could take its $25 billion and give it all away tomorrow, and then it would be through, finished, barring any more infusements of cash from Bill or whoever. But it would be stupid to do that, because $25 billion is more than just a lump of cash, sitting there, collecting dust - it is a tool, a tool that can literally be put to work. It takes money to make money, and the more money you have, the more you can make, and the more you can make, the more you can give to charity!

The BGF has been managing its assets wisely, as most charitable organizations that expect to stick around for any length of time do. It doles out money carefully, in reasonable sums, over time, while keeping the rest of its assets invested. When you INVEST assets, they GROW over time, considerably faster than inflation if you know what you're doing. What that means is that if you're patient, you can literally create money for yourself. Leave that $25 billion in the bank for a few decades, and before you know it it's $30 billion... $35 billion... $45 billion. At 2% interest (quite a modest rate), $25 billion will be worth $181 billion to Bill's great great grandchildren in 2104. What that means is that it could give away $156 billion over the next 100 years and STILL have $25 billion in 2104 (although $25 billion would be worth less due to inflation).

Or it could spend $25 billion today and have nothing in 2104. Now are you going to keep criticizing Bill Gates for not spending everything he has right this instant?

Well, that's nice. But it doesn't really SOLVE THE PROBLEM does it? Why not determine how much money it would cost to put enough computers in those libraries and just DO IT?

Because although Bill Gates is the richest man alive he does not have enough money to solve all the world's problems. He cannot give every library new computers and feed every starving person and give every child a stuffed animal, because not even he is rich enough. Those challenge grants actually sound pretty generous to me, and they would probably look that way to you if you weren't blinded by hatred of Bill Gates.

If there aren't enough computers in those libraries today, and he doesn't give enough money to put enough computers in there, then what use is the investment you're talking about? Whatever the PROBLEM was that would have been SOLVED by putting sufficient computers in those libraries will still be a PROBLEM because it wasn't completely dealt with.

And you propose to "deal with" this problem how? Compute

That's downright AMAZING because their books don't show that number. They must have more than DOUBLED their contributions in the 2 years that aren't shown.

They did actually - maybe it would help if you would look at the current figures instead of the figures you cited which were two years old.

Re: Tracing current and past data to show possible future trends. There are no indications that the amounts this organization is donating will decrease. It has held firm for the past 4 years and I see no reason to believe it will decline in the next 10, barring some kind of major economic disaster. It would be reasonable to predict that the Bill Gates Foundation will have donated $28 billion total by 2016. Sure it could donate less, but it could also donate more. REASONABLE.

What I'm doing is pointing out that the amount of money he is giving is NOT THAT MUCH when it is calculated as a PERCENTAGE of his income.

I know that's what you're saying. And what I'm saying is WHO CARES. If you had READ MY POST IN THE AGGREGATE instead of PICKING APART EVERY SENTENCE INDIVIDUALLY like a COMPUTER PROGRAMMER you would have UNDERSTOOD THAT.

Now let me explain why it would be very stupid for any charity to blow their wad all at once and not keep a sizable treasure chest on hand. The Bill Gates Foundation could take its $25 billion and give it all away tomorrow, and then it would be through, finished, barring any more infusements of cash from Bill or whoever. But it would be stupid to do that, because $25 billion is more than just a lump of cash, sitting there, collecting dust - it is a tool, a tool that can literally be put to work. It takes money to make money, and the more money you have, the more you can make, and the more you can make, the more you can give to charity!

The BGF has been managing its assets wisely, as most charitable organizations that expect to stick around for any length of time do. It doles out money carefully, in reasonable sums, over time, while keeping the rest of its assets invested. When you INVEST assets, they GROW over time, considerably faster than inflation if you know what you're doing. What that means is that if you're patient, you can literally create money for yourself. Leave that $25 billion in the bank for a few decades, and before you know it it's $30 billion... $35 billion... $45 billion. At 2% interest (quite a modest rate), $25 billion will be worth $181 billion to Bill's great great grandchildren in 2104. What that means is that it could give away $156 billion over the next 100 years and STILL have $25 billion in 2104 (although $25 billion would be worth less due to inflation).

Or it could spend $25 billion today and have nothing in 2104. Now are you going to keep criticizing Bill Gates for not spending everything he has right this instant?

Well, that's nice. But it doesn't really SOLVE THE PROBLEM does it? Why not determine how much money it would cost to put enough computers in those libraries and just DO IT?

Because although Bill Gates is the richest man alive he does not have enough money to solve all the world's problems. He cannot give every library new computers and feed every starving person and give every child a stuffed animal, because not even he is rich enough. Those challenge grants actually sound pretty generous to me, and they would probably look that way to you if you weren't blinded by hatred of Bill Gates.

If there aren't enough computers in those libraries today, and he doesn't give enough money to put enough computers in there, then what use is the investment you're talking about? Whatever the PROBLEM was that would have been SOLVED by putting sufficient computers in those libraries will still be a PROBLEM because it wasn't completely dealt with.

And you propose to "deal with" this problem how? Compute

According to the webiste for the Gates Foundation they have an endowment of 26 billion dollars donated personally by Bill Gates and his wife.

The Gates Foundation has an endowment of approximately $24 Billion. When you put $5 in the collection plate, you have, perhaps, paid for one meal for one homeless person. When you donate $24B, you can, among other things, spend more than $65,000,000 per year to treat AIDS in the developing world.

Look, you don't have to like Bill G's company or the software they make, but until you've figured out how to earn a few billion and donate it to charity, you should not try to insult the generosity of those who have.

The Gates Foundation has an endowment of approximately $24 Billion. When you put $5 in the collection plate, you have, perhaps, paid for one meal for one homeless person. When you donate $24B, you can, among other things, spend more than $65,000,000 per year to treat AIDS in the developing world.

Look, you don't have to like Bill G's company or the software they make, but until you've figured out how to earn a few billion and donate it to charity, you should not try to insult the generosity of those who have.

He also has this little foundation that I've heard does some good. But this is slashdot, we gotta have our two minute hate in the interval between SCO's press releases.

It probably has something to do with all the money he's donated to AIDS research and educational grants (warning, this link is to the gates foundation website so is certainly biased, but it does list the monetary amounts they've donated to various schools) in recent years.

I'll admit that he's not the best philanthropist, but he does donate a lot of money to a lot of organizations. He could just swim in it all day like Scrooge McDuck, so he deserves some definite props for doing what he does.

Don't sell him short just because he's mostly evil...

but you have to remember that they are doing it for business reasons. just like pharmacutical companies dump useless drugs in poverty/famine stricken countries and regions (well ok, maybe not that cynical). there's probably some tax write-off they can make, plus they get to permeate the market so that other OSs don't get a look in. i also think BG wants to make himself look a great guy, need proof? check out the BMG foundation website.

go to gatesfoundation and look for yourself. Yes, I disagree alot with what MS does. But that doesn't make Billie boy and wife all bad.

And I thought I was a cynic.

"Gates is almost completely focused on ...expanding Microsoft's monopoly."

Yeah, I guess that little "almost" in there is the 6.2 BILLION DOLLARS in grants and donations. I guess this is what prevents him from being "completely" focused on Microsoft's monopoly, right?

I'm not exactly a Microsoft apologist, but for you to sit there an dismiss such a huge amount of philanthropy as a PR campaign or tantamount to billionaire one-upmanship angers the shit outta me -- regardless of who's in question.

Maybe I'll be more inclined listen to you bitch when you donate 13% of your net worth to charity.

Dude, this is so wrong it isn't even funny. If you look at the cash breakdown here you'll see that more than half the money goes to researching desease. This is a noble cause no matter what you think about his opperating system. The Gates Founddation does wonderfull things even if I hate Clippy.