Warren Buffett, the world’s second-richest man, is donating 85 percent of his fortune to charity.
June 26, 2006 — Warren Buffett, the world’s second-richest man, is making an unprecedented donation to the world’s richest man, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.
Buffett, 75, the CEO of the Omaha, Neb.-based company Berkshire Hathaway, is worth $44 billion, according to Fortune magazine.
Fortune reports that Buffett will donate 85 percent of his fortune amassed from stock in the Berkshire Hathaway company to five foundations.
The donations, which will come from Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shares, would amount to about $37 billion, based on current values.
Five-sixths of the money reportedly will go to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which specializes in finding cures for diseases that plague the Third World.
Let us compare this man to the men who have gotten rich on the proceeds of oil in their countries. Like, say, Saudi Arabia, where the money has gone to feed a corrupt monarchy, keep it in power, and fund worldwide terrorism and a virulent sect of Islam that hates the West.
And oh, yeah—there’s that Bill Gates fellow, who has donated much of his fortune to charity as well. Charity that will ultimately help the Saudi subjects, because their rulers are much more interested in finding new ways to export Wahabism than to find cures for disease.
Warren Buffett is what we of the Jewish faith call a mensch. Good for you, Mr. Buffett.
“Buffett once told Fortune magazine: ‘A very rich person would leave his kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing,'” Hobson said.
“He says he and his wife talked about it and decided they shouldn’t pass huge amounts of money along to their children. They believe their kids were born with the advantages of wealth, and grew up with great opportunities because of that. He says they had a gigantic head start, and that dynastic megawealth would further tilt the playing field in America, when we should be trying to make it more level.”
Yes. A mensch.
This week I recieved a fundraising letter from UNICEF. Included was a world map that showed whether a country contributed money to UNICEF, received money from UNICEF or both.
Israel was the only Contributor in the Middle East. (Turkey was one of the “both” countries.)
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait – they’re all taking international money for food, medicine and education for their children.
Think of that next time you see an article about the latest engineering marvel being erected in Dubai.
Meryl! Meryl! Wake up Meryl! You’re dreaming again.
This is a tax dodge. The man who wants other people to give more of their money to the tax man wants to make sure they get as little of his as possible. So he has to give it away. Better it serve HIS pet projects after he’s dead than the government’s. His kids all get a billion or so each for THEIR foundations (which pay them BIG salararies for running said foundations) and WALLA! The government gets squat.
Charitable foundations are the truly wealthy’s way of bitch-slapping the merely rich.
What a wonderful thing Mr. Buffet is doing. After your first tens of millions, the only good thing money is for is power (AFAIK).
…And he is giving it away.
I sure hope Carl Pohlad got the message. He’s trying to coerce us Minnesotans to build his team a stadium – which he could easily do himself.