Warren Buffett Moves to Help Group Trying to Reduce Nuclear and Biological Threats

In a small but significant philanthropic gesture, Warren E. Buffett is opening his huge wallet to help support a group founded by Ted Turner and former Senator Sam Nunn whose aim is to reduce the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Calling the threat posed by nuclear and other unconventional weapons "the ultimate problem" confronting mankind, Mr. Buffett said yesterday that he had decided to give the group, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, $2.5 million over five years and become an adviser to its board. His commitment to the group is to be announced on Friday.

"It's not that much money," said Mr. Buffett, American's second wealthiest man, who runs the investment company Berkshire Hathaway. But he said he hoped it would "encourage other businessmen to get involved" in confronting a challenge that "boggles the mind."

"The genie was let out of the bottle in the 1940's," he said, referring to the creation of the atomic bomb. While there was no "putting it back into the bottle," Mr. Buffett said, the "best answer is what Sam Nunn is doing."

The initiative was founded almost two years ago with a pledge of stock that Mr. Turner held in AOL Time Warner that was then worth about $250 million. Since January 2001, the group has spent roughly $37 million on projects such as helping secure nuclear material stored in Russia, helping create a revolving fund to respond quickly to infectious disease outbreaksand, most recently, removing highly enriched uranium from a poorly secured reactor in Belgrade to a safer site.

But the group has been hard pressed by the 77.9 percent decline in the price of AOL Time Warner stock. Mr. Turner has told the foundation that he would "do what he can to meet the $250 million commitment." But Mr. Nunn said in an interview, "There is no binding commitment beyond the number of shares." As a result, Mr. Nunn said, although the group was not cutting its staff of 32 and still planned to spend $30 million on projects this year and $25 million in 2003, it would be unable to undertake any expensive new projects. He said he would raise more money.

Given the fragile state of the stock market, Mr. Nunn said, "Warren Buffett's commitment is even more important than it would normally be at this stage."

Mr. Buffett said he had long been concerned about the danger posed by weapons of mass destruction but had not gotten involved because he did not initially believe the danger could be mitigated by money. As he came to know of the tive's work through his friendship with Mr. Nunn on the Coca-Cola board, he said he became convinced that the group's projects could make a difference.

"You don't want an Einstein or a Russian biological warrior to be starving," Mr. Buffett said, referring to American and international efforts to ensure that scientists with such deadly expertise are gainfully and peacefully employed. Investments in keeping such people and material out of harm's way, he said, "may increase the probability of getting through the next 50 years."

Mr. Buffett also supported President Bush's stance on Iraq, arguing that limiting the threat of Saddam Hussein's unconventional weapons might limit the danger he posed.

"If I thought the probability was high that a nation of some resources was developing really potent weapons to use against me, and that there was a high probability that he would use them, I think you have to act pre-emptively," Mr. Buffett said.

He declined to discuss what impact a war against Iraq would have on the economy. "People think I know what I'm talking about," he said. "So I have to be careful."

He said he looked forward to being consulted by Mr. Nunn and Mr. Turner as they saw fit. Mr. Nunn said Mr. Buffett's involvement with the initiative would be particularly valuable not only in fund-raising, but also in persuading pharmaceutical companies and other biotech concerns that it is worth investing in research and development efforts that rely on skills of former Soviet scientists.

Mr. Turner called Mr. Buffett to thank him for his gift to the initiative. "Ted comes in technicolor," Mr. Buffett said, adding that he admired him for thinking in terms of "big causes" and committing large sums to them.

Mr. Buffett may seem like a very generous guy here, but he and Ted Turner are acting in their own self-interest. You see, people like this are immune from about 99% of the various natural, military, and economic crises that afflict human beings in one way or another. Nuclear and biological attacks are among the few situations in which Warren Buffett, Jimmy Buffett, etc. will be affected just as much as Joe Six-Pack is.

About NTI

Working for a Safer World

Concerned that the threat from nuclear weapons had fallen off most people's radar screens after the end of the Cold War, CNN founder Ted Turner asked former Senator Sam Nunn in the spring of 2000 to help assess whether a private organization could make a difference. After months of discussions and consultations with some of the world's most respected security experts, Mr. Turner and Senator Nunn founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in January 2001. NTI is supported by a pledge from Mr. Turner to provide $250 million - believed to be the largest sum any private individual has ever invested in these security issues.

NTI's mission is to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. NTI seeks to raise public awareness, serve as a catalyst for new thinking and take direct action to reduce these threats. In addition to Mr. Turner and Senator Nunn, NTI is guided by an experienced, international Board of Directors who share a common goal of taking action to reduce the gap between the global threats and the global response. The foundation's activities are directed by Senator Nunn and managed by President Charles B. Curtis.

NTI has created this web site to give people access to the facts about these threats. These issues need to be debated beyond a small circle of experts and policy-makers so that closing the gap between the threat and the response becomes a global priority. The terrorists who planned and carried out the attacks on September 11th showed a willingness to take innocent lives, limited only by the capacity of the weapons available to them. The world's security may depend on who moves faster - those trying to get weapons material and know-how or those trying to secure them. The world needs to do everything possible to keep weapons of mass destruction out of terrorist hands.

http://www.nti.org/b_aboutnti/b_index.html

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