Why would a billionaire give billions to another billionaire

[Dees]

to give to charity. Obviously Gates does some very much needed greatness with his charitable work. But Buffett giving gates the money to distribute is a head scratcher for me. Buffett likes what Gates is doing but it seems to me he would want to move into other areas. :shrug:

[Alfalfa Wolf]

1. because he doesn't want his children to have them

[NMDemDist2]

4. welcome to DU Alfalfa Wolf!!

:hi:

[niyad]

19. welcome to DU!!!

[liberal N proud]

22. You are right about him not wanting to give it to his kids

BTW: Welcome to DU

I saw a 1999 interview with Buffet and his view is that kids should not inherit their parents fortunes. He said something like it makes them spoiled brats.

As that being the reason he is giving it away, I don't know. I wish he would throw some my way or at least pay my kids tuition.

[newyawker99]

38. Hi Alfalfa Wolf!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NMDemDist2]

2. i got the impression Buffet doesn't want to deal with dispersing the $$

and figures Gates has enough of his own that Buffet's won't be a tempation...

:shrug:

I thought it was a great idea

[northzax]

7. again, it's to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

that the gift is being made. NOT to Bill Gates himself. The rules about what the money can be used for are fairly strict.

[NMDemDist2]

9. right! and Gates Fnd already has the infrastructure to deal with it. the $

is from the estate right? not until Buffet dies? I only skimmed the article in todays paper and didn't get all the details.....

[northzax]

14. gradual gift over a period of several years

as I understand it.

[Schema Thing]

32. Before he dies. It begins now and extends into the future

[Divernan]

36. Two very good reasons.

What I read earlier today in news releases about this was:

(1) Gates is a generation younger (about 25 years I think) than Buffet so hopefully will be around 25 years longer than Buffet, to personally ensure that the money is used as his friend Buffet wants it to be used;
(2) The gift is in the form of stock from Buffet's company. It is the income from the stock and/or it's increase in value that is valuable. If Buffet set up a new foundation, a hefty chunk of stock would have to be sold for cash to set up, staff and run the foundation. The Gates Foundation is already in place, with experienced oversight, so although more staff may need to be added, overall it will take a much smaller bite out of the funds. You know whenever you choose a charity, there are websites you can go to to find out what percentage of moneys contributed actually makes it to the intended benficiaries, and how much goes to, in the cases of some "charities", huge salaries to administrators who set up the charity.

[northzax]

3. he's giving it to Gates' foundation

the idea is that instead of setting up his own foundation, you might as well give it to an established one that you know is successful on the issues you care about. Sure, he could set up the Buffett Foundation, but then you have a whole nother layer of administration and a learning curve. I respect the hell out of him for not caring about leaving his name behind, and instead caring about the money going to good use.

[Tace]

5. Buffett & Gates Sit On The Boards Of Each Others' Companies

Apparently, they're involved in some kind of collaboration in their philanthropic activities as well.

[Liberal In Texas]

37. Gates and Buffett are good buds. An amusing story out of Omaha a few years

ago:

Gates and Buffett went to Gorat's (a middle class steak restaurant that's been around a long time) in Buffett's car.

After paying $35 in cash for the two dinners, Mr. Buffett prepared to drive his fellow billionaire back to the airport. But his first new car in 10 years, a Lincoln Town Car whose license plate says "THRIFTY," wouldn't start. Mr. Gates says despite their best efforts, neither he nor Mr. Buffett could unlock the steering wheel.

So the two richest men in the U.S. were stranded in Gorat's parking lot, until they called a taxi to pick them up.

http://webreprints.djreprints.com/882011413375.html

[charlie]

6. Probably doesn't want to waste money

duplicating the institutional apparatus. If he agrees with the Gates Foundation's aims, I expect it's more efficient to give them the money.

[meegbear]

8. Because they're EEVILLE!!

EEVILLE I TELLS YAH!

[oasis]

10. Buffett avoids a slew of rip off charities that would be popping up if he

were to announce a giant giveaway.

[Midlodemocrat]

11. Probably because the Gates Foundation is the largest in asset

size as well as dispersement. It seems pretty logical to me. With Gates stepping down to take a greater part in the dispersement of his foundation's funds, it would seem to make sense to have Buffett's money handled the same way.

Additionally, he is giving monies to his late wife's foundation as well as his childrens' foundations.

[BuddyYoung]

12. "Rich people KISS each other. Poor people P--- on each other." nt

nt

[Roon]

16. I wonder why that is?

eom

[serryjw]

13. Buffett is 75

who knows how long he has, he trusts Gates as to where the money is going. Dispersing this kinda money is a full time job which Buffet does not have the time or inclination to do...I think it's great that more money won't be spent making administrators rich at the expense of worthy causes.

[Schema Thing]

15. Because it's smart and the right thing to do

Read the fortune magazine article; he explains his reasons well.

[NotGivingUp]

17. Better question yet....why do the billionaires STEAL from all of

us and then give it to charity? Anybody who has billions -- or millions, has stolen wealth from everybody else. They have stolen the life, breath, labor and sweat of people everywhere so that they could rise to the top of a very high heap. NOBODY deserves to have so much, and NOBODY deserves to have so little. They are nothing more than slave owners.

[partylessinOhio]

24. Well, thank YOU for telling it exactly like it is!!!!!!

I agree with every word. After these billionaires have stolen their money from the poor suckers they want to aggrandize themselves by "giving back!" It is nothing but a bad joke. These foundations do NOT give any money to the poor or individuals. Instead they give the money to other foundations or groups who then funnel it down to other groups and companies. Melinda Gates mentioned a drug today that she is touting as being a result of her foundation. That only means that her foundation gave money to a drug company which was already bilking the public of their money to formulate the drug. At the other end of the chain I doubt the person needing the drug will get it for free.

These billionaires should stop accumulating more and more wealth by lowering their prices for the goods or services they provide. In that way the money would benefit more people and benefit them directly without the need of foundations and groups which are just employment agencies for more people like the Gates and Buffett who have never worked at real labor a day in their lives.

I have always been touched by the elderly I see in supermarkets trying to make the best choices with their limited food dollars. It breaks my heart because you can just see that they don't have enough money to feed themselves. If I could ever win a lottery I would pass out cash money directly to elderly people in markets. I would bet that not one dollar of Buffett's billions will reach one of those people.

Gate's foundation directs it's efforts to Africa not Americans. I feel that is very unfair for we have many many Americans who deserve a better life and will never have one.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. The average African needs it more than the average American

Why is it unfair that the money goes to them?

[partylessinOhio]

31. I feel it is unfair to ignore Americans when most of the Gates money

came from America.

[EmmitFitzhume]

34. The Gates foundation isn't . . .

ignoring America. I fully support their efforts to reform our educational system and Bill has been in front of the issue for a while. He's stressing the need for more engineers, scientists, etc and an overall need to improve our secondary educational system so we can keep up in the era of globalization. Here is the foundation's website if anyone wants to take a look,

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. This isn't a customer rebate

Neither he, not Buffet, are trying to return money to the people they made their profits from, by doing business with them (who aren't the needy, in the USA or abroad, anyway). The money is going to projects to prevent deaths from disease.

[northzax]

25. now too be fair

Buffett is perhaps the most honest billionaire in the US. Sure he's made a lot of money, but for the most part he has done it by investing in long term, sustainable businesses. Plus, he lives a modest lifestyle (no $50 million house for him, he's still in the same split level ranch he bought in '48, sure, it's nice, but it ain't billionaire nice.) And he puts his money where his mouth is.

[acmejack]

27. Because they can.

Society idolizes them, no personal downside to it.

[rucky]

18. Because the Gates Foundation already has the infrastructure...

to address the issues.

Why would he reinvent the wheel, or pay to support the infrastructure of a different organization that basically does the same thing?

As for the organizations who apply for the foundation money, that's one less grant they'll have to write.

[Brazenly Liberal]

20. He can do more good that way.

The Gates Foundation is already in place and has vetted various causes. The personnel and policies are all in place. They are, so to speak, ready for prime time.

Just getting to this point is enormously expensive. By utilizing the structure, policies, and information already put in place by the Gates Foundation, Buffet is able to avoid paying all those expenses and therefore a greater percentage of the money is available for actual charitable work.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

21. Because It Made Sense To. Why Do You Give Money To The Red Cross,

for example, instead of mailing it to a third world country yourself?

It is a manner of convenience, oversight, management and resources. It just made sense for them to do it that way.

What I fail to see is the problem with it.

[Semblance]

23. They are long time friends

And Gates has the machinery in place to give the money away.

[KT2000]

26. The Gates Foundation

has a structure that requires accountability. They are involved in the projects they support and monitor the progress. They don't hand out grants as many do, they are hands on with the goal of assuring success.
I guess it has worked well and Buffet probably does not want to structure his own foundation.

[bigscott]

30. jesus you would think

he was doing a BAD thing by giving away BILLIONS. Who gives a shit where he DONATES his money? his kids aint gonna starve, and the BMG foundation does some really good things. There will always be someone who needs help here in the USA - but give the guy a fucking break already -

[pinniped]

29. He should have split it with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

.

[Dora]

33. It's a simple answer w/ no need to hate/resent/grouse Buffet or Gates.

If you run a non-profit organization or foundation, when the time comes for that organization or foundation to close its doors, you are required by law (IRS, I believe) to give the assets of that organization to ANOTHER non-profit organization or foundation. Keeping non-profit assets non-proft.

So, Buffet's foundation time has come to close down. He is required by law to keep those assets in the non-profit sector.

Really, it's a good thing.

[banana republican]

35. There are significant tax benefits to this.

Buffett most likely will not pay any personal income taxes again....

This is fine with me...

Since part of his gift requires spending(or granting) all $1.5BN that he donates in the year he donates it. There will be $1.5BN in new charitable contributions EACH YEAR..

that is a very big impact in the not for profit sector and the economy in general....

[lastknowngood]

39. Why not let another repuke billionaire use to influence the sheep

and politicians to continue concentrating the power and money to the few families. I know everyone says Buffett is a dem, but not really. We need a real news org and a real free flow of information to ensure the ideals of this country, instead he will give a 100,000.00 to a repuke religious org that will force poor people to believe in their hate filled crap to get food.

[Zynx]

40. Gates is 25 years and about two generations of medical advances younger

Simple enough.