[madprof98]

Buffett has spent a lot of his money promoting abortion, a cause Gates also favors. Wonder if that's where the money will go. I'm sure George Soros would be willing to chip in if need be.

[GSlob]

Well, it is his money and he deals with it as he sees fit. The nice touch is that he piggybacks on an existing foundation instead of the hassle of setting his own.

[beethovenfan]

And the Gates Foundation will invest it in Berkshire Hathaway.

[Berlin_Freeper]

" Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man, is starting this year to give much of his wealth to charity, with the bulk of over $40 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock going to the Bill and Melinda Gates..."


Good that it's going to a worthy cause.

[StockAyatollah]

What a waste. The Gates' foundation is a PC (no double entendre intended) AIDS-centric pile of dung. It has to be infested with liberals. Other than throwing cash at AIDS, Billy boy likes to give away Windows licenses. How freakin' generous! Africa's problems are caused by promiscuity, communism, radical Islam, dictators and American leftists.

If I were a billionaire, I would target my money at something beneficial to mankind that private industry could not do or would have a hard time doing, such as colonization of the moon or Mars for instance.

[GSlob]

"the first annual donation would go to the foundation this year. It's expected to total about $1.5 billion." "Buffett wants all his money to be distributed in the year it is donated"
Well, then he better not wait till December 30. Or maybe he were to give them 365 days from the moment of donation.

[Names Ash Housewares]

I dont suppose any of this money or Gates money ever makes it to our military heroes in need?

[goodnesswins]

NOTE: BUFFET (and GATES) WILL NOT PAY ESTATE TAXES.....but they WANT EVERYONE else to.

They have enough money to pay the litany of attorneys it takes to set up Foundations for their pet causes.....and then hire their friends and family (Gates, at least)....

[No Blue States]

Its funny to me that no matter how rich or powerful
someone is, the second they die they will be
completely broke and will face God just like a poor man.

[Screamname]

There`s going to be a lot of rich warlords...

"Yo, check it out! Gates just threw us another $10 mill to fight AIDS! Yeah! Yeah, let`s buy more guns and tanks to fight that AIDS! Bwa ha ha ha! YEAH! We gonna rule!"

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Of course, he's going to pay estate taxes on this, correct? He hasn't done anything to avoid the death tax, has he? I know he's a proponent of the inheritance tax -- it's only fair, right? Now is this the same Warren Buffett who has enjoyed friendly deals to take over Solomon Brothers, and other nice insider deals, because he is such an icon? He didn't leverage this to his personal benefit did he?

[hedgetrimmer]

No more tax exempt foundations. They are destroying this country. Time to get rid of them.

[woofie]

Bill and Melinda, dont forget "The Woofie Fund"

[aShepard]

Well good for him.

That means that he's totally supportive of the youth and the ability of the Gates Foundation to totally vet the millions of "charity money-grubbers" looking for donations, and decide the best issues to fund, amongst the melee.

Fantastic news, and it points to his not being willing to pay huge salaries to an infrastructure, ala United Fund; US Red Cross, and others (Of course Salvation Army excluded from this rant!)

[libs_kma]

I never could understand why Gates is such a liberal, after Bubba Klintoon spent more money and energy going after Gates and Microsoft than he did going after terrorists.

Well, maybe Gates isn't so smart after all.....

[jim_trent]

There is a LOT of misinformation on this thread. The staunchly pro-abortion person in the family was Buffett's wife. She died a couple of years ago or so. She was separated from Warren (and lived on the left coast) for MANY years before that. However, it was MUCH cheaper for Mr. Buffett to finance her with as much money as she could spend rather than divorce her and give her half of it. There is no quesiton that he has supported her causes, but I don't really believe he is as rabid an abortion supporter as the people here are posting. He has already (actually many years ago) said he is not leaving his money to his kids since it would ruin them. I will trust that he has similar sense in other things.

[John Lenin]

Mr. Buffet, please send me a million dollars. I promise to invest it wisely ...

[Imgr8t]

So how will this affect all of the Berkshire companies??

[pabianice]

Billionaires who start giving huge sums to charity have a big "I'm Guilty!" sign on their backs and are trying to make things right before they go. One has to wonder of what are they guilty...

[cobaltblu]

I am legally changing my name to Mrs. Gates Foundation.