Take that ! Jeff Bezos you bitch.
Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
61–70 of 301 posts
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interest on a collateralized loan for a while might be cheaper than capital gains tax on an actual sale.
For some amount of time, sure. But at some point you have to pay off the loan, presumably by selling the collateral, at which point your taxes still come due and you've also paid a bunch of interest. This only makes sense if you believe the stock will increase in value enough to exceed the interest paid. If you're actually donating the stock (or the full proceeds from the sale), I'm not sure what the tax implications…
Do charities in the US enjoy an exemption on capital gains taxes when selling stocks?
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#63Hypothesis: From an analytical perspective, he must believe that the upside of Microsoft is limited enough, at least over the time horizon he's concerned about, to start cashing in Microsoft stock. He's a smart guy. He'd be trying to convert his holdings at the top of a value curve, right?
Maybe, maybe not. One reason to sell an investment is of course you have reason to believe it is at (or near - timing the market exactly is typically impossible) the peak.
Another reason to sell is you believe there is a better investment elsewhere so you want to transfer the money there.
Another reason to sell is you want to use the money for something other then growing money. (buying a family heirloom with only sentimental value)
When an insider sells stock that is considered meaningless by investors because there is no way to know which of the above is the case. When an insider buys stock that means the insider believes the company is a good investment and so that means something, but selling means nothing.
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#64So what is his net worth made up of if he's donated all but 1.5% of his MSFT stock? His remaining MSFT stock is worth about $8B. What's the rest of his $82B made up of? - Edit- Nevermind, found it on here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Investment
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#65I'm surprised that people are asking how / why he is giving money away and no one mentioned his Giving Pledge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge Bill Gates and Warren Buffet pledged to give half of their net worth away during their life or death to charity. They're practicing what they preach.
it's capitalism at is best you start a company in your garage take it to be worth Bilions an then give it all away, doesn't get better than this.
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Andrew Carnegie was the OG give-all-my-wealth-away-before-I-die incredibly wealthy person. I read an essay by him in high school where he though, philosophically, he shouldn't give his money to his kids rather than donate it.
I guess it really depends on what your view of the world, and your place in it, is. I was very surprised when my parents basically said that whatever wealth they accumulated, their goal was to leave that to me. I think they view it as their duty as parents, for that to be the right thing to do. Others have a view of propagating their genes to the next generation and view inherited wealth as the way to do so (Yes, I r…
Those views are rather strictly tied to the number of 0's in ones bank balance I feel. Even 1% of Bill gates worth is many hundreds of millions. Where as the average person who seeks to leave everything to their children might be in the millions. But possibly even less.
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question: can half of it for example $20B in cash, cure cancer? or HIV/AIDS?
Its important to understand, when anyone says "cure cancer", they are saying cure 100+ (mostly) unique diseases. $20Bn is not even close, try around 200Bn and 50+ years of research. Maybe we will get lucky and find an amazing immuno-oncology drug that takes out half of them in the next 20 years, but I wouldn't bet on it.
I see it a bit differently, if you can figure out both all of the functional relationships in our bodies and devise a mechanism to precisely drive any and all of them, not only will you 'cure cancer' but you will be able to cure any other disease or ailment that is expressed as an undesirable functioning of that system.
I don't know if you can do that with $20B but I feel these days that its more likely to occur rather than the opposite (which is to discover some underlying uncertainty principle that would prevent directing cellular action in a predefined way.)
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#68Although there are many cynics, it's quite remarkable the impact on the world donations can have. Here's what their foundation has actually been doing with the money:
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/Resources-and-Med...
I wouldn't be surprised if private donations will eventually be responsible for the eradication of Malaria (1000 deaths daily, much more suffering and cost to society).
If you're in tech you're likely to be in a great position to create value beyond your company. For example, donating equity from your startup or a fraction of your income to the charities that can prove they are having the most cost effective impact on the world: https://founderspledge.com/ https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/pledge/
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#69So he donated a small percentage of the stock he holds to a charity that he and his wife control to avoid taxes on dividends. Big deal.
Re: Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
The man that inspired them... "Over the course of his life, Feeney has given away more than $8 billion.." "As of 2016, he lives in a rented apartment in San Francisco, with a remaining nest egg of $2 million" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Feeney
> Feeney is known for his frugality, living in a rented apartment Seems like renting isn't that frugal in the long-term though... it's unlikely cheaper long-term than owning a condo or small home, ie. you're either paying your own mortgage or someone else's mortgage + rental profits.
He is also 86. Maybe he is trying to make his life a little easier at this age.