Posted on 10/07/2011 11:02:08 AM PDT by Lmo56
How much did Teddy Kennedy leave to charity [ I don't know]. BUT, I heard that when Rose died - she wanted to leave the Hyannis Port Compound to a group of Nuns [she was VERY religious] - BUT that Teddy had the will falsified so that the FAMILY would keep the real estate ...
Steve Jobs was one of the inventors of the personal computer by the time he was in his mid 30s. That had an unmeasurable impact on increasing the wealth of the world and reducing human misery. Thus, Jobs more than fulfilled his "societal obligation" by the age of 35. Giving his money to some Socialist Front under some self-congradulatory "Giving Pledge" would probably harm society.
Jobs built a company with a market cap in excess of $350 billion. A company’s stock price essentially represents the net present value of future earnings, so this implies that after discounting future earnings so that they are equivalent to today’s values, the aggregate total of future earnings projected for Apple is >$350B. To earn that much money, a company has to provide at least that much value, else customers wouldn’t be willing to pay the prices that generate such earnings.
This valuation greatly understates the true value of Apple to the world since in any competitive market, there is a consumer surplus above and beyond the market price reflecting the reality that for some consumers, an iPhone might be worth %1,000, but because of the magic of the market, such individuals can get one for many hundreds of dollars less than that.
The point being that even if Jobs instructed his heirs to literally burn all his remaining wealth, the value that he provided to humanity in his lifetime already dwarfs the charitable giving of even Bill Gates.
Perhaps he did. Perhaps he didn't. I really don't care. It's none of my business.
But if I saw a story about how Steve Jobs gave billions of dollars to one deserving charity or another, I tell you truly it would make me think less of him.
I don't care what Zuckerburg or Gates give away. They can do whatever they want with their money. But the fact that they make a big show out of what they do disgusts me.
Well...MAYBE Jobs figured out what a few of US have figured out....one billionaire giving to another billionaire (or group) ala Gates and Buffet....is NOT charity...it’s tax avoidance...
Lots of Microsoft stuff [desktop, icons, mouse clicks, etc.] was RIPPED-OFF from Apple innovations. Check out the "Pirates Of Silicon Valley" [1999] movie ...
One of the most appalling things about our tax code is that just about every American taxpayer dutifully totes up all of their charitable giving each year so he can report that number to the government. One big reason I would support Herman Cain’s 9/9/9 Plan is that it would eliminate the charitable deduction, so this information would no longer be any of the government’s business.
And Apple ripped them off first. So what?
My mouth was hanging wide open by the time I got to the end of the excerpt. I am glad you said what I was thinking.
“societal obligations” ....taxes.
Google the phrase...it is fictitious. It didn’t come up on the first page of my search engine.
Please....My side hurts from laughing!!
Jobs’ contribution to society is inestimable. Making it possible for people to maximize their own talents is the most noble way to be charitable. Whether or not he gave “fish” seems irrelevant when he obviously gave so very many “fishing rods”.
“Now what will happen to Jobss fortune Forbes has estimated his net worth at $8.3 billion is a matter of speculation that is provoking discussion about Jobs and the societal obligations of the very rich.”
Uh... perhaps he thought that his FAMILY came before strangers.
And how much of his salary has Whoriskey given to charitable causes this year...?
“societal obligations”
SAY WHAT??? I have just two words for those people: eff them!
“Perhaps he made his donations anonomously?
How much did Teddy Kennedy leave to charity [ I don’t know]. BUT, I heard that when Rose died - she wanted to leave the Hyannis Port Compound to a group of Nuns [she was VERY religious] - BUT that Teddy had the will falsified so that the FAMILY would keep the real estate ...”
It was probably the convent that takes care of the daughter who had a lobotomy. Joe Kennedy had it performed because she wasn’t as smart as the other siblings and he thought she was becoming a discipline problem. The one thing Rose said she could not forgive him for.
“Whether or not he gave fish seems irrelevant when he obviously gave so very many fishing rods.”
Excellent point. In that regard, the market capitalization of Apple is a greatly understated measure of Jobs’ value to society. We’d have to add to it at least part of the downstream value created by those who used Apple tools to make the world a better place. There arguably are few individuals in the history of the planet who have contributed more to improving social welfare than Steve Jobs: how many can say they added hundreds of billions of dollars to the happiness of mankind?
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