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Buffet to give nearly $31 billion to Gates foundation mongabay.com June 25, 2006 In an interview with Fortune magazine, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett announced he will give nearly $31 billion -- most of his wealth -- to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To date Mr. Gates has contributed some $30 billion the Foundation, making him the most generous philanthropist the world has ever known. Gates further intends to hand over the most of his remaining fortune by the end of his life. The value of Mr. Buffet's gift of 10 million shares is currently worth about $30.7 billion based on Friday's market closing price of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Mr. Buffet will also contribute shares to four family nonprofit organizations. In all he will donate about 85% of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to charity. Mr. Gates, a member of Berkshire Hathaway's board, released a statement thanking Mr. Buffet for his generosity.
According to the Fortune article, Mr. Buffett's decision to start giving his fortune to charity while he is still alive was driven by the death of his wife, Susan, in 2004. Buffett says that she "would really have stepped on the gas," for charitable giving. Mr. Gates world's richest man with more than $51 billion. Mr Buffet is second with around $42 billion according to Forbes magazine. Mr. Gates' net worth peaked in 1998 at around $100 billion. RELATED ARTICLES A long-term approach to helping the poor in Africa through private enterprise This past Saturday millions of people watched the anti-poverty "Live 8" concerts held in London, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Moscow, Philadelphia and Barrie, Canada. Live 8 coincides with tomorrow's G8 summit of world leaders and aims to raise awareness of the need for aid, debt relief and fairer trade for Africa. While the cancellation of debt and delivery of aid to Africa is a noble and needed cause for a desperately poor continent, policy makers will need to ensure that funds are spent wisely to maximize the benefits for the largest number of Africans. In the past, aid to the developing world has met mixed reviews. Some of the largest recipients of aid are still some of the world's poorest countries. What's going on here? Have aid agencies just been throwing money into a hole? Super Staples: Africa seeks bioengineered food solutions African scientists, in conjunction with research facilities in the United States, are working toward developing super strains of traditional nutritional staples in Africa. This project was stimulated in part by the Grand Challenges program, which seeks to tackle major problems associated with global health. The program has an operating budget of $500 million primarily from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has contributed $450 million. The United Kingdom's The Wellcome Trust and the Canadian government have also contributed, $27 million and $4.5 million, respectively to the program. This sum will be divided among 43 individual projects designed to address and ideally, conquer these problems. Mobilizing seniors to fight poverty in Africa For all the hype around sending billions of dollars in aid to Africa, it is important to remember that money must be spent wisely. Some of the largest recipients of aid in the past are still some of the world's poorest countries thanks to corrupt regimes that consumed massive amounts of aid. Direct aid has not only bred corruption and the misallocation of resources away from those who need it most, but it has also fostered dependency and skewed the perceived value of goods and services. Recommend this article? Comments? >Digg this article | >Hugg this article | Contact News options
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