Posted on 01/01/2014 4:59:06 PM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
Bill Gates tried to get hedge fund founder Robert W. Wilson, who committed suicide over the weekend, to join his giving pledge. Wilson, who gave away hundreds of millions of dollars of his personal fortune on his own, politely told Gates he wanted to “stay far away” from his effort.
(Excerpt) Read more at buzzfeed.com ...
—— Original Message ——-
From: Bill Gates
To: Robert W. Wilson
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 1:03 PM
Subject: Giving Pledge discussion
Robert,
I’m writing to let you know about an idea we’re calling the “Giving Pledge” that came out of a number of conversations that Melinda and Warren and I have had with a number of people over the past year.
The idea is that when you take the Giving Pledge, you agree to give the majority of your wealth to charity during your lifetime or through your will. The Giving Pledge will be public, and pledges will be posted on a website (www.givingpledge.org). A pledge can consist of a single sentence or a longer explanation of your philosophy in respect to philanthropy.
By bringing together the people who take the Giving Pledge in various ways, including at an annual event, we hope we can all learn from each other. The Giving Pledge is more of a moral commitment than anything else. It is not a legal contract, and it does not involve pooling money or supporting a particular set of causes.
We will only invite people of substantial wealth to join this particular group but we will also cite efforts being made by others to draw everyone into philanthropy. At first we will focus on the United States, but we plan to extend it to other places if it goes well here.
Since your generosity has inspired so many and you have clearly already lived this Pledge, I am writing to see if you would be willing to help lead this effort and join us in encouraging others.
We are planning to proceed in three steps:
Today an article about the Giving Pledge was posted online at www.fortune.com. Warren and Melinda and I will be on Charlie Rose’s show tonight to further discuss the idea.
Second is that in the next few days, we are asking some of the great philanthropists in the United States to join us in signing a letter to hundreds of wealthy people in the United States inviting them to pledge. We are working on an initial draft, which we will send you for your feedback if you choose to be involved. We hope to send the letter out in a few weeks.
Third is that sometime in the fall – perhaps October – we will have an event for everyone who was invited and has agreed to sign up. This will be an annual event and we will discuss whether any other types of activities would be attractive to the group.
Thanks for considering this. I look forward to discussing this with you soon and I’ve asked someone on my staff to set that up.
Bill
Wilson responds:
From: Robert W. Wilson Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 12:16 PM To: Bill Gates Subject: Re: Giving Pledge discussion
Mr. Gates, I decided more than ten years ago to try to give away 70% of my net worth and have already given away one-half billion dollars. (I’ve never been a Forbes 400) So I really don’t have to take the pledge.
Your “Giving Pledge” has a loophole that renders it practically worthless, namely permitting pledgees to simply name charities in their wills. I have found that most billionaires or near billionaires hate giving large sums of money away while alive and instead set up family-controlled foundations to do it for them after death. And these foundations become, more often than not, bureaucracy-ridden sluggards. These rich are delighted to toss off a few million a year in order to remain socially acceptable. But that’s it.
I’m going to stay far away from your effort. But thanks for thinking of me. Cordially
Gates pushes back:
——- Original Message ——-
From: Bill Gates
To: Robert W. Wilson
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 1:23 AM
Subject: RE: Giving Pledge discussion
What you are doing is fantastic. You are giving a high percentage and doing it in a very efficient way to causes you have thought deeply about.
The key benefit of your getting involved in the pledge would be having people learn more from your example both in your pledge letter and your participation in the yearly events. We believe the more people we get involved the stronger the effort will be and the more people who will join.
You are right that the Giving Pledge allows people to join in who don’t give until their will comes into action. Since people don’t know when they will die it is a bit difficult to make the timing of their giving super specific.
You are also right that some people set up foundations without a strong focus or leadership and with high overhead.
One of our goals with the Giving Pledge is to make it more common for people to consider their philanthropic plans at a much younger age. A number of people we have talked to about the pledge have said that they are thinking through their plans now instead of waiting because of the pledge. People often put off thinking about giving because it involves considering when they die and forces them to pick particular causes and decide how much to leave for each family member. The causes that are easy to pick are often not the ones that have the biggest impact on reducing inequity. We aren’t trying to homogenize the giving but we do think people getting exposures to others who have thought a lot about the right causes will improve the overall quality of giving.
So it is fine for you to stay out but I want you to know that we agree with your views on philanthropy and we would benefit from your joining in. If you are willing to talk further about this I would love to chat on the phone sometime.
Wilson closes the discussion:
——- Original Message ——-
From: Robert W. Wilson
To: Bill Gates
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 4:15 PM
Subject: Re: Giving Pledge discussion
Mr. Gates, thanks much for your email. But as my previous email indicated, I wouldn’t have much fun or add much value to this group. You, being a liberal, think you can change people more than I think.
But let me make one comment. When I talk to young people who seem destined for great success, I tell them to forget about charities and giving. Concentrate on your family and getting rich—which I found very hard work. I personally and the world at large are very glad you were more interested in computer software than the underprivileged when you were young. And don’t forget that those who don’t make money never become philanthropists.
When rich people reach 50 and are beginning to slow down is the time to begin engaging them in philanthropy.
I’d greatly appreciate just leaving it at that. Cordially
I love the last response.
It is sad that someone with such wisdom and insight should feel obliged to kill himself.
“... donating about $600 million to causes that included environmental conservation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Roman Catholic education (though he was an openly gay atheist), died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 87.”
Well, well. I was not expecting that wrinkle, having not clicked through to the story. Not exactly our kind of conservative, perhaps one of the Log Cabin Republicans I’ve heard about? Likely a GOPe.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is openly racist. Not surprising since the Gates are liberal weenies. They have created the Gates Millennium Scholars to aid students in pursuit of education. The judging criteria selects students based upon:
- Academic achievement
- Community Service
- Leadership potential
There’s only one other little small criteria…no whites allowed! Here is the full criteria to qualify for some of Bill and Melinda’s money:
Students are eligible to be considered for a GMS scholarship if they:
• Are African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander American, or Hispanic American;
• Are a citizen/legal permanent resident or nationals of the United States;
• Have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (un-weighted);
• Will be enrolling for the first-time at a U.S. accredited* college or university as a full-time, degree-seeking, first-year student in the fall of 2010; or GED
• Have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular or other activities;
• Meet the Federal Pell Grant* eligibility criteria; and
• Have all three forms (Nominee Personal Information Form completed by the student, Nominator Form completed by an educator familiar with the student’s academic record and a Recommender Form completed by a person familiar with the student’s leadership and community service) submitted by the deadline.
Can anyone imagine a scholarship that excluded African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander American, or Hispanic American students? Why, I imagine that would be called racist! But white students have all the advantages given to them magically because they have no pigment in their skin! Thank you Bill and Melinda for pointing that out for us common folk!
Why wouldn’t the Gates make the criteria on household income rather than race? It’s because they are liberal white, elite morons! Yeah, he is one of the richest men in the world but that doesn’t stop him from being a politically correct, liberal moron! My guess is Gates made his billions mostly from white people buying his buggy software.
Read more at http://angrywhitedude.com/2010/02/why-does-bill-gates-hate-whitey/#P8DBQZ5ROKwfoit1.99
“”So it is fine for you to stay out but I want you to know that we agree with your views on philanthropy and we would benefit from your joining in.””
That sounds like the bottom line for Gates - “we would benefit from your joining in” I think the guy probably figured there was another angle if Gates wanted his participation for HIS benefit and opted to go his own way! Not many of us can tell Gates to get lost. How many of us would love to tell him to get lost???
I knew he was an atheist, but didn’t know he was homosexual, much less openly. That may have come later in life, together with his philanthropy, as he was married for some 30-35 years to the same woman. I suppose that’s just what homosexual men of his generation did.
Doing anything less than that just proves how completely phony they are....billionaire Maoists.
The Human Fund. Costanza started it.
And these family trusts tend to become a source of lifetime income for their descendants as “managers”, “fund raisers” and “trustees”. Attend some meetings, send out some mailings, maintain a Facebook page, through parties in the name of fundraising. Give away a portion of the trust fund’s growth and let it grow another year to fund another year’s salary for the brood.
Gates should focus his final energies, not on this sort of nonsense, but on producing an operating system that is not only dominant, but dominant because it actually works worth a damn.
A truly pathetic man.
These billionaires and multimillionaires are the bastards that fund the destruction of the US, giving away untold sums to the environmental groups and other leftist activist groups. Their foundations and trusts are commandeered by the leftists who fund lawsuit after lawsuit against much less deep-pocketed groups or individuals.
I’m not sure what the answer is to these left-behind riches, but the current system is a complete failure. I don’t like the .gov types getting it via estate taxes nor do I like the leftist foundations getting it.
ARRRRGHH!
> Wilson, who gave away hundreds of millions of dollars of his personal fortune on his own, politely told Gates he wanted to “stay far away” from his effort.
Donating to a foundation that you yourself control isn’t giving away your wealth, malaria boy.
Trust Fund Babies. Can spot them a mile away. Live like they have means, but don’t.
Not exactly a conservative, but a nice bitch-slap of Gates.
bkmk
Money... for people.
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