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My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

gatesnotes.com

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Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#671

Post by RataNova »

lapcat wrote: post #105
CamperBob2 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's not as if the public sector is solving many problems these days. We seem to have decided, collectively, that we'd rather have more problems. At least that's what we've been voting for.

That's because the ultra-wealthy control the elections via unlimited campaign contributions, "independent" group spending, lobbying, providing lucrative jobs to ex-politicians, or even running for office themselves. Both of the major political parties are corrupted by money, just in different ways, different funding sources. The news media has also been centralized, monopolized, and increasingly, owned directly by bi…

Yeah, that's a big part of the problem, I think

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#672

Post by RataNova »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #44
RataNova wrote: post #33

How much power is concentrated in the hands of individuals... It's great that Gates is choosing to use that power philanthropically, but it also raises questions about the long-term role of private wealth in solving public problems.

Well, it's not as if the public sector is solving many problems these days. We seem to have decided, collectively, that we'd rather have more problems. At least that's what we've been voting for.

Fair point, public trust in institutions has eroded for a reason. But if we give up on the idea that the public sector should solve problems, we're basically conceding the game to whoever happens to have the most money and the least accountability

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#673

Post by belter »

legitster wrote: post #49

It's interesting he decided to go this way rather than put it into a sustainable trust and just trickle money out indefinitely. I suspect he believes that these causes need shock therapy. To eradicate a disease, you are better off doing it all in one go. I also wonder if he looks at something like the Ford Foundation and realize in the long run that any charitable trust will just turn into an overstuffed political ad…

Please...Gates has been giving interviews about giving all his money for 24 years! While every year, topping the list of the richest persons on earth.

Gates moved $50 billion into a tax-exempt entity he controls, avoided all capital gains tax, secured over $11 billion in total tax benefits, and only needs to distribute 5% of the foundation’s assets annually, all while retaining effective control and reaping massive reputational returns.

This is nothing more than tax optimization for billionaires and can guarantee you the private plane bills, security costs, hotel suites are invoiced to the foundation...

People who believe this, also believe Warren Buffet makes money by value investing and picking stocks. Warren Buffet who by the way also used the Gates foundation for tax optimization to the tune of avoiding 20 billion in capital gains tax.

If politicians wanted they could set a 95% tax on billionaires tomorrow, just like next Monday, and none of these 250 individuals would have the minor inconvenience of their lifestyle. It seems to be possible for tariffs...But those are a tax on the other 99% tax payers. It happens overnight...

Such a smart guy, but not smart enough to stay away from Epstein...

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#674

Post by dennis_jeeves2 »

CIPHERSTONE wrote: post #463

I don't see his post as an attempt to self-promote as some commenters here have made. To what purpose? He's already known to most adults, already rich beyond anyone could possibly dream to be. And it sounds like from the post that he already had this path planned albeit several decades after his death. I think accelerating that timeline is a good thing as I think he will be better than anyone who came after to direct…

>I don't see his post as an attempt to self-promote

Appears to be more along lines of approval from others, which is a type of self-promotion if you will. IMHO a true do-gooder would go about his philanthropy/help/charity with zero publicity and would actively shun any.

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#675

Post by dennis_jeeves2 »

999900000999 wrote: post #133

>The Gates Foundation’s mission remains rooted in the idea that where you are born should not determine your opportunities. Arguably he's already done so much for billions of people. Had typing on computers not became the main way businesses communicate , anyone with bad, handwriting would be stuck in menial work. When I was growing up in the 90s my hand writing was so bad it was assumed I would never amount to anyth…

>None of this would of been possible without Gates.

The computer would have taken off regardless of him. Just like the electric bulb and the radio, the computer had no one single inventor/promoter/business.

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#676

Post by BobbyTables2 »

bdhe wrote: post #563
ivape wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered about the Gates and Buffets commitment about giving away their wealth in death. It assumes that the people of the future are more worthy of it than the people of now. Whatever poverty will exist in the future also exists now. I suspect they've thought about this too, hence the acceleration. If anything, addressing the issues now has a chance of reducing the issues in the future. There's always so…

> There's always something to learn from everyone. Elon reiterated one thing frequently - "We have to get to Mars soon because I don't want to be dead before it happens" I understand the idea of learning from everyone, even those whose values I strongly disagree with. But after learning about everything Elon has done in the public sphere, would this statement be more likely just narcissism rather than a deep and insp…

I very much would like to see a human on Mars very very soon —- only because I really hope it will be Elon.

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#677

Post by BobbyTables2 »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #553
calepayson wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an AI skeptic when it comes to business cases. I think AI is great at getting to average and the whole point of a business is that you're paying them to do better than average. But I think current AI (not where it might be in a few months or years) is absolutely amazing for disadvantaged people. Access to someone who's average is so freaking cool if you don't already have it. Used correctly it's a free math tutor…

> The whole point of a business is that you're paying them to do better than average. ...this is a really interesting idea, but I'm not sure if it's entirely true? If we're talking about a business's core competency, I think the assertion makes sense. You need to be better than your competition. But businesses also need a whole lot of people to work in human resources, file taxes, and so on. (Not to mention clean bat…

If only so many companies didn’t have below average executives…

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#678

Post by freeamz »

RataNova wrote: post #668
freeamz wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Foundation is a way to set a dynasty! Just look at all the robber baron foundations out there.

Some foundations have been used that way, no doubt. But I think there's a difference between setting up a tax shelter with vague goals and actively committing to spend down the entire endowment in a specific timeframe

True. Actively committing to spend down the entire endowment in a specific timeframe does not mean it is not used create a dynasty.

In the 50's the Congress in US was getting suspicious about those foundations already. There were a investigation for it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Com...

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#679

Post by gantron »

CIPHERSTONE wrote: post #463

I don't see his post as an attempt to self-promote as some commenters here have made. To what purpose? He's already known to most adults, already rich beyond anyone could possibly dream to be. And it sounds like from the post that he already had this path planned albeit several decades after his death. I think accelerating that timeline is a good thing as I think he will be better than anyone who came after to direct…

> To what purpose?

Steel-manning: Gates has run a deliberate PR campaign for decades to rehabilitate his reputation. In the 80s & 90s (before the Gates Foundation) he was known as a ruthless corporate tactician who crushed competitors like ants and earned a federal antitrust suit against Microsoft. Prior to his divorce he had a widely-publicized affair with a subordinate. He befriended Jeffrey Epstein and appeared in his flight logs after Epstein had already been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. (Gates has worked very hard to distance himself from Epstein since then - another example of the PR machine at work).

Someone who wants to paint the least charitable picture possible of Gates could factually describe him as a cutthroat businessman and a philanderer who associated with a pedophile on at least a few documented occasions. And that's ignoring the nuttier Gates conspiracy theories (e.g., Covid microchips).

Sure, everyone knows him. But he'd rather be known as a voracious reader who fought polio & malaria and provided drinkable water to millions. Not a bad use of his billions - what else could he spend those on that would materially affect his life?

Re: My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth

#680

Post by gantron »

perilunar wrote: post #608

Bill Gates is rich in part because his company screwed over so many people. Sure they made some products that people wanted and needed, but they also shipped some real crap and behaved like arseholes. It's good that he's giving it all away; it would have been better if he had less because his company was more ethical.

Agreed. You can really tell commenters' ages based on whether they recall this. The Gates you describe is the one I remember from the '90s.

I have to assume that anyone who thinks of Gates as a rich old man who just wants to cure Malaria is quite a bit younger (or their memory is easily overwritten).

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