Bill Gates's philanthropy costs him richest-man title

[CHA2010]

---

Bill Gates's philanthropy costs him richest-man title

Reuters - Tuesday, March 8
By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK - Bill Gates didn't lose his title as the world's richest man last year; he gave it away by plowing billions into his charitable foundation, experts say.
Forbes will release its 2011 billionaires list on Wednesday and Gates, investor Warren Buffett and last year's richest man, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, will almost certainly be in the top three. The trio have topped the list for the past five years.
But it would be no contest if Microsoft co-founder Gates had not already given away more than a third of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on global health and development and U.S. education.
"It wouldn't be a competition," said David Lincoln, director of global valuations at wealth research firm Wealth-X. " would have a comfortable margin if he had never discovered philanthropy."
Lincoln said Gates was currently worth about $49 billion, behind Slim, whose fortune he estimated at $60 billion. Buffett, also a philanthropist, is now worth some $47 billion.
But had Gates not given away any money, he would be worth $88 billion, Lincoln said.
Gates and his wife Melinda have so far given $28 billion to their foundation, the largest in the United States.
Forbes' 2010 billionaires list put Gates' fortune at $53 billion, but he was knocked into second spot by Slim's $53.5 billion, losing the crown for only the second time since 1995.
Slim has said businessmen do more good by creating jobs and wealth through investment, "not by being Santa Claus," and while he has still pledged several billion dollars to charity, his efforts have been a fraction of Gates's philanthropy.
Buffett, who Forbes ranked as the third richest man in the world last year with $47 billion, has also pledged almost all of his fortune to the Gates Foundation and has given $8 billion to the organization since 2006.
But Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has fared better than Gates's Microsoft. Microsoft shares now trade about where they were a decade ago, while Berkshire shares have roughly doubled. Since the end of 2009, Microsoft shares have fallen 16 percent, while Berkshire shares are up 29 percent. Slim's major companies, which include Mexico's former state telecoms monopoly Telmex, have also seen gains in their stock prices.

"DRAMATIC" PHILANTHROPIC INFLUENCE

Gates and Buffett have joined forces to encourage other billionaires to publicly pledge to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth during their lifetimes or upon their death as part of a campaign called The Giving Pledge.
Glen Macdonald, president of the Wealth and Giving Forum, said Gates's philanthropy had influenced the way other rich people in the United States approach their own philanthropy.
"Encouraging people and leading by example -- there's no question that's going to have influence on people's giving patterns," said Macdonald. "They are going to give sooner and they are going to give in greater amounts."
But Macdonald, whose group has advised 600 wealthy U.S. families on their philanthropy, disagrees with the public nature of The Giving Pledge, which requires billionaires to release a letter explaining their intentions.
So far 59 billionaires have joined The Giving Pledge, publishing their letter at The Giving Pledge. The campaign does not accept any money nor tell people how to give away their wealth, it just asks for a moral commitment.
Paul Schervish, director of the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College, said Gates' influence had been "dramatic" and likened philanthropy to a gem, saying Gates was "changing the facets by learning and teaching others."
"He would be the first to admit that he is not the origin of the movement, of all the ideas in the movement, for which he is a leader," Schervish said.
"One of the things we're dramatically finding is people beginning foundations and endowing them at higher levels while they are still alive," he said.

[necrotic freak]

kudos to Mr. Bill Gates!

[mokiloo]

well...he's one of the richest even before he became a philanthropist

Sorry guys I hate to rain on your parade with Gates
but being charitable or in his magnitude of capacity---a philanthropist
is so easy if you have tons of money to give away

If you're a bored billionaire what else it there for you to do?
You could either run for office or simply sprinkle your millions (in charity though) in full view
of the press and earn yourself a spot in the one of those favorite clubs billionaires lounge around
under the colorfully lighted marquee of Philanthropism.

And it's good press
and good press is always good for business!!!!

Sorry for my being so blunt on these things
My opinion lang

[Hammer_and_Sickle]

great!maayo na bai bill gates padaun na, mao na gitawag the principle of sowing and reaping

[CHA2010]

well...he's one of the richest even before he became a philanthropist

Sorry guys I hate to rain on your parade with Gates
but being charitable or in his magnitude of capacity---a philanthropist
is so easy if you have tons of money to give away

If you're a bored billionaire what else it there for you to do?
You could either run for office or simply sprinkle your millions (in charity though) in full view
of the press and earn yourself a spot in the one of those favorite clubs billionaires lounge around
under the colorfully lighted marquee of Philanthropism.

And it's good press
and good press is always good for business!!!!

Sorry for my being so blunt on these things
My opinion lang

Bro Mokilo you also a point sayon rajud kaayo ipang hatag ug naa kay daghang kwarta (Billions of Money), But if your nature is a giver your always a giver, their are people even do they have lots, tones of money but still they'r very greedy.

[jmdc03]

you're an inspiration Mr. Gates!

[amorchuckie]

Here's the vital reason why Gates' wealth is declining.... It's the downfall of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft?s Lost Decade

Once upon a time, Microsoft dominated the tech industry; indeed, it was the wealthiest corporation in the world. But since 2000, as Apple, Google, and Facebook whizzed by, it has fallen flat in every arena it entered: e-books, music, search, social networking, etc., etc. Talking to former and current Microsoft executives, Kurt Eichenwald finds the fingers pointing at C.E.O. Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates?s successor, as the man who led them astray.

By Kurt Eichenwald
VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE

...As for announcements of quantum leaps into the technological future: nothing. Ballmer applauded the still-long-awaited Windows 8 operating system (which as of this writing is available only as a release preview online). He burbled about his expectations for Xbox, the game console that successfully competed with Sony PlayStation. Out came Windows Phone 7 again, which, despite widespread praise from users, had experienced bleak sales results. A demo followed, which proved an embarrassment; the device?s voice-to-text messaging failed and then another glitch forced a Microsoft staffer to reach for a different phone. The media response was dismal?the company?s last presentation, a prominent blogger wrote, was a ?cruel joke.?

Microsoft?s low-octane swan song was nothing if not symbolic of more than a decade littered with errors, missed opportunities, and the devolution of one of the industry?s innovators into a ?me too? purveyor of other companies? consumer products. Over those years, inconsequential pip-squeaks and onetime zombies?Google, Facebook, Apple?roared ahead, transforming the social-media-tech experience, while a lumbering Microsoft relied mostly on pumping out Old Faithfuls such as Windows, Office, and servers for its financial performance.

Amid a dynamic and ever changing marketplace, Microsoft?which declined to comment for this article?became a high-tech equivalent of a Detroit car-maker, bringing flashier models of the same old thing off of the assembly line even as its competitors upended the world. Most of its innovations have been financial debacles or of little consequence to the bottom line. And the performance showed on Wall Street; despite booming sales and profits from its flagship products, in the last decade Microsoft?s stock barely budged from around $30, while Apple?s stock is worth more than 20 times what it was 10 years ago. In December 2000, Microsoft had a market capitalization of $510 billion, making it the world?s most valuable company. As of June it is No. 3, with a market cap of $249 billion. In December 2000, Apple had a market cap of $4.8 billion and didn?t even make the list. As of this June it is No. 1 in the world, with a market cap of $541 billion.

How did this jaw-dropping role reversal happen? How could a company that stands among the most cash-rich in the world, the onetime icon of cool that broke IBM?s iron grip on the computer industry, have stumbled so badly in a race it was winning?.....

...?I see Microsoft as technology?s answer to Sears,? said Kurt Massey, a former senior marketing manager. ?In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, Sears had it nailed. It was top-notch, but now it?s just a barren wasteland. And that?s Microsoft. The company just isn?t cool anymore.?

Cool is what tech consumers want. Exhibit A: today the iPhone brings in more revenue than the entirety of Microsoft.

No, really.

One Apple product, something that didn?t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion....

[Shizen]

He knows that his money won't do him any good when he has passed on, so he might as well use it for the benefit of others.

[KlaytoN]

he is the perfect example that non-believers/atheists are bad!

[bleedingboi]

This is one reason why I'm still sticking to Microsoft products instead of Apple. Screw the iPad, I'll get the Microsoft Tablet Surface instead.