The Good News Only - thread...

[AndyRM]

I remember reading years ago how he said he wasn't going to give billions to his kids so they actually understood the value of money, or words to that affect.

There's a lot I dislike about Microsoft but he's never been part of my issues with them.

 

[AuroraSaab]

Bill Gates. Enemy of the people, has donated almost all his money to his charitable foundation.
I’m sure there are plenty of reasons to criticise him, but he’s at least trying to do some good with his fortune.

He's done some admirable stuff, like trying to eradicate malaria, but he also gives a lot of money to politicians and media outlets. Kamala Harris got $50 million and The Guardian got $10 million. There's no such thing as a free lunch and when it comes to billionaires there are very few who are 100% good guys and whose philanthropy is genuinely altruistic.

 

[Pblakeney]

He's done some admirable stuff, like trying to eradicate malaria, but he also gives a lot of money to politicians and media outlets. Kamala Harris got $50 million and The Guardian got $10 million. There's no such thing as a free lunch and when it comes to billionaires there are very few who are 100% good guys and whose philanthropy is genuinely altruistic.

Could be argued that getting Harris in and saving the US from Trump was an attempt at altruism. 😉

 

[CXRAndy]

Or he wanted a Dumbo so he could manipulate

 

[Rusty Nails]

Or he wanted a Dumbo so he could manipulate

Well he got half of what he wanted.

 

[matticus]

Could be argued that getting Harris in and saving the US from Trump was an attempt at altruism. 😉

I think Aurora left a lot of ambiguity in her post, but I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that was exactly what she meant! :P

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

Could be argued that getting Harris in and saving the US from Trump was an attempt at altruism. 😉

But the fact that politics in the US have long run by whoever bilionaire sponsors the most is exactly the problem. Trump has shown that he can turn that problem into a weapon amongst other things in the money he raised with Trump meme coin, Melania coin, merchandise, he manages to brand himself ''man of the poeple'' whilst at the same time ripping those poeple off. it's crazy, but dumping money at the problem would have never worked, i hope the democrats find a better answer next elections.

 

[swee'pea99]

I remember reading years ago how he said he wasn't going to give billions to his kids so they actually understood the value of money, or words to that affect.

There's a lot I dislike about Microsoft but he's never been part of my issues with them.

As best I remember he said he aimed to give them 'enough so they can do anything, but not enough so they can do nothing.'

 

[Electric_Andy]

If he's left with just 1% of his fortune, he still has over £100M. So even for a rich person, he'll be fairly well off. I don't blame him though, he has given away vast sums of money, much of it to undeniably good causes. I do think there should be a law against this vast level of wealth acumilation though. 1 billion is already way more than any resonable person can spend, unless they're buying a company, which would suggest they're going to earn even more. I'd like to see some sort of cap, maybe at $1.5B USD, and after that you either have to cease trading or you can continue to trade if your business is of global benefit, but any futher profit goes to a charity decided upon by a neutral board.

It must be tricky for some businesses though. e.g. if you earn too much then you give half of it to the taxman. So the only way not to do that is my expanding

 

[All uphill]

If he's left with just 1% of his fortune, he still has over £100M. So even for a rich person, he'll be fairly well off. I don't blame him though, he has given away vast sums of money, much of it to undeniably good causes. I do think there should be a law against this vast level of wealth acumilation though. 1 billion is already way more than any resonable person can spend, unless they're buying a company, which would suggest they're going to earn even more. I'd like to see some sort of cap, maybe at $1.5B USD, and after that you either have to cease trading or you can continue to trade if your business is of global benefit, but any futher profit goes to a charity decided upon by a neutral board.

It must be tricky for some businesses though. e.g. if you earn too much then you give half of it to the taxman. So the only way not to do that is my expanding

I can't remember who said that a society having people in abject poverty, or having billions is a failing society.

 

[Beebo]

It’s generational wealth that is a problem.
If you have $1billion then your great great great grand children will almost certainly be very wealthy too.
So it’s inheritance that is the problem. And how do you stop the mega wealthy from avoiding it.
The guy with a couple of million is likely to get stung by the 40% IHT rate, where as the guy with a couple of billion will be able to avoid most of it.

 

[AuroraSaab]

When mega rich people say 'I'm not leaving my children anything' what it really means is 'By the time I die they will already be so comfortably off that they won't need an inheritance'. They likely have trust funds that are paying out already, income from shares and investments already gifted, houses bought by family trusts etc. and enough money stashed away to live in luxury forever.

Gates has said he's giving his children less than 1% of his wealth - that's still a billion dollars divided between the 3 of them. $330 million each. Kudos to him and his ex for giving away most of their money before they die though, and for not forcing his kids into Microsoft to create a business dynasty like some do.