Bill Gates donate 4.6 billion worth of stock

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  1. jackclee lm profile image78
    jackclee lmposted 7 years ago

    What do you think of Bill Gates announcing he is giving 4.6 billion of Stock to charity?
    He is worth 90 billion and has created  the Gates Foundation which has been helping with health and education around the world. He is one of the proponent of Common Core in the US publication system.

    1. Glenis Rix profile image97
      Glenis Rixposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      So that still leaves him with 85.4 billion to play with? Nobody needs that much money. I am pleased to see that he has made a huge donation. Perhaps sometime in the future he will consider giving more.

      1. jackclee lm profile image78
        jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

        I don't think you realize how this works.
        Bill Gates may be the richest man in the world but that does not mean he has billions sitting around his house...
        These assets are stocks he own in Microsoft...
        These stocks are traded everyday and can go up and down...
        He can donate the stocks which then get sold in the open market to raise the funds for his charities...

        1. Will Apse profile image90
          Will Apseposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          The notion that there is more to life than making money is still hard for many.

          The interesting thing is that you can trace back the whole accumulation of wealth thing through western civilization (which is obviously not all of civilization, but still interesting) if you want to.

          Did you know that in Dante's Inferno, usurers (those who lent  money, like bankers) were consigned to the 7th circle of hell?

          This included murderers, suicides, blasphemers and sodomites.

          The usurers were condemned to constantly move their hands, because in life they had done no useful work.

          1. jackclee lm profile image78
            jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            What's your point? Is profit bad in your opinion?
            Did Bill Gates created Microsoft and earn billions-- is that a good or bad thing?
            Did people pay their hard earned money to buy Microsoft products or were they compelled?
            The charity work bill gates involved with in his later years pales compared to the good he has done for society in my opinion.

            1. Will Apse profile image90
              Will Apseposted 7 years agoin reply to this

              The point is, if you are completely sunk in the present value system you have no way of understanding what that system is.

              In this case, almost any belief system that is not entirely a product of capitalism will help you to understand what capitalism is. And whether it has value.

              Bill Gates is an interesting example of a man born outside the world that he currently finds himself in.

              I can see that he irks you. But I am still trying to understand why.

              1. jackclee lm profile image78
                jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                I dislike Bill Gates for what he did to obtain his wealth...
                I wrote about it in my memoir or auto biography...
                It is too detailed to describe here.

                I almost see it as the Godfather movie... where at the end, michael corleone was treated as an upstanding citizen, contribution to the vatican...and yet made his fortune by being a thug and a killer...
                In a way, he was atoning for his sins by donation his wealth.

                Bill Gates was a ruthless businessman and many will atest to it.
                He did not make it fairly in a free market capitalism system.
                For that reason. His charity work will always be tainted in my mind. I can't help it.

                1. Will Apse profile image90
                  Will Apseposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  So America allowed Bill Gates to acquire vast wealth in an unjust way?

                  1. jackclee lm profile image78
                    jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                    Yes and no... He was shrewd and skirted the law.  We have laws on the books but were not sufficient to deal with him...
                    For example, he was sued by IBM regarding the whole OS/2 debacle, he lost in court years later and had to a pay hundreds of million in damages. But guess what, he made billions with Windows... so he won even though he clearly lost the legal case.

        2. Glenis Rix profile image97
          Glenis Rixposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          I feel this is a rather condescending remark. Speaking personally, I have a university degree in Business and Finance and a post graduate certificate in management studies, so I am well aware of how it works.

          1. jackclee lm profile image78
            jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            I am sorry. I didn't mean to be condecending...
            Just your remark seems to show a lack of understanding of wealth.
            He is worth 90 billion on paper. If the market goes through a correction like we had in 2008, he can easily lose 40 percent or more of his wealth...on paper.

  2. William F. Torpey profile image72
    William F. Torpeyposted 7 years ago

    Poor guy is down to his last $86.4 billion. Maybe we should take up a collection for him?

  3. Marisa Wright profile image87
    Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

    I'm glad to see it.   There comes a point where you really don't need any more money.   Some people just keep on amassing and amassing wealth for the sake of it, when they could never hope to spend it in their lifetime or even in their children's lifetime. 

    He is taking the very sensible view that it's more important to ensure the longevity of civilisation by using his money for the good of all.

    1. jackclee lm profile image78
      jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      You are thinking about this in a wrong way. It is not bad for Bill Gates to build a company like Microsoft and in the process became super rich... you are missing the fact that millions of people profitted from his corporation. In terms of people using his products to be more productive...in terms of investors in stock that made profits, employees that made a good living working at this company... the city of Seattle benefiting from the Microsoft presence...

      The debate is what is the best way for Gates to share his wealth?

      Some here on HP have commented that he could donate more of it to help poor people...
      Or he could reinvest it and get more returns to help society in this intangeble way...
      Which is more effective?

      Think of it this way, suppose Gates having made his first billion dollar back in 1990s decided to sell his company, cash our and donated the bulk of it and retire early and have a great live...

      Or by doing what he did, amassed a much bigger fortune and is now able to donate much more to give back...
      For those who critcize capitalism, for all the greed and the abuses...missed the fact that capitalism is what got us the wealth in the first place. It is the golden goose that keeps laying the egg...

  4. William F. Torpey profile image72
    William F. Torpeyposted 7 years ago

    It's very sad that so many gullible people swallow the capitalism line. Under capitalism "the few" inevitably wind up with virtually all the wealth (That's why there are so many poor people and "middle class" people who falsely think they're doing "great" with the moderate amount they are able to accumulate. There is nothing wrong with making money under the capitalist system, but the game is rigged. The laws of incorporation give the business leaders "huge" advantages. By way of mergers and acquisitions corporations become so large that they are truly monopolies -- but they are so wealthy that they control our politicians largely by way of campaign contributions (They donate to both sides (Democrats and Republicans.) Politicians must rely on their contributions for re-election (which means the politicians must kow tow to them on important issues.) Because the corporations are required to put their stockholders first before all else they virtually "must" show increased earnings every quarter (or their stock prices will suffer along with the remuneration to board members and officers.) This results in corporations having to either increase prices or cut labor and other costs. All of this means that stockholders (like Bill Gates and others) gain more and more wealth virtually every three months. Thus stockholders end up making huge amounts of money -- which really means the corporations prices end up being too high and their labor is being remunerated at a far too low rate. Bottom line: The wealth of Bill Gates and others comes at the expense of the underpaid workers and over-priced products. (In plain English: Workers get the shaft.)

    1. jackclee lm profile image78
      jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      There is nothing to swallow. The proof is in the results...
      The per capita income of Capitalistic nations are much higher than other types...
      The wealth pie is bigger and more to go around.

  5. William F. Torpey profile image72
    William F. Torpeyposted 7 years ago

    The pie may be bigger, but it's hogged by a tiny minority of investors. The large majority of Americans have to share the crumbs that fall off the table.

 
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