THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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The challenge for Bill Gates

The challenge for Bill Gates

The world's richest man faces a test very different from the rest of us

The only thing that Bill Gates has been seemingly unable to do is outspend his great fortunes, even with one of the biggest philanthropic efforts the world has ever seen. For another year yet, he has been named the richest man in America by Forbes. According to the magazine’s annual list, Gates is worth $72 billion with Microsoft accounting for just one-fifth of that. And he is nearly $10 billion richer from January.
Gates can’t stop the continuous increase in his fortunes. That is probably the only provable point we can arguably use to frown at a man who has given some $28 billion to charity over the past five or six years. The co-founder of Microsoft has endured a fair share of criticism, not least regarding his business practices in his early years, and the investment of his foundation in some questionable companies, but many of the allegations are debatable. Truth is, few people who are similarly rich or nearly as rich are giving away as much.
One of Gates’ famous public comments had to do with how he hated being “the richest” in America or the world, or, more directly perhaps, the attention that came with the status. However, while US economic growth remains slow, Gates made an extra $9.8 billion this year alone. Most of his money comes from non-Microsoft gains, notably his firm Cascade, which owns large shares in tractor maker Deere & Co, the Canadian National Railway and Mexican Coke bottler Femsa.
He has invested smartly, and given a lot to charitable causes, although many critics are urging him to donate even more. Such demands are expected to echo once again on the back of the latest Forbes rankings. As long as there remain poor people in the world, the social “heat” will continue to be on the richest “elite”, and deservedly so.
In 2007, Gates and his wife Melinda were considered the second-most generous philanthropists in the United States. How much more they are planning to give away will continue to be a focus on attention. How much of Bill Gates’ donations will be deemed “enough” will be a multi-billion-dollar question, so to speak.
Just for the record, the Gates family resides in an earth-sheltered house in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington. The total value of the property was an estimated $125 million seven years ago. The swimming pool has an underwater music system and Gates owned a collection of Leonardo da Vinci writings which he bought for $30 million.
Nearly three decades ago, a movie came out about a baseball player who has to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million. One of the many rules is that he can’t tell anyone about the goal of his spending. It’s a hilarious film, partly because millionaires giving away money like crazy is stuff for fiction or fairy-tales.
Poor people unable to get out of poverty is not news. Rich folks unable to trim down their wealth is far more intriguing. Money is a funny thing, after all. Perhaps Bill Gates is being presented with a test far different from those most others face. His greatest challenge now may be not how much more he can gain, but how much more he can give.
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