Translated material
Money to money
The Gates Charitable Foundation received the largest grant in US history
American billionaire Warren Buffett, who ranks second in the world's richest people, announced yesterday that he intends to donate 85% of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Charitable Foundation. Most of this money - 83% - are shares of the Berkshire Hathaway holding, created by Buffett in the early sixties of the last century.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in January 2000. It was headed by William Gates, the father of the head of Microsoft. The mission of the foundation is to help improve the living conditions of people in the world through the dissemination of advanced technologies in medicine and education. Over the past five months, the Gates couple have spent about $10 billion on charity, of which $6 billion on medicines and medical equipment, $2 billion on improving the quality of education and $575 million on improving the environment in the Pacific Ocean. Northwestern program). In addition to grants allocated for education and medicine, the foundation established an award for contributions to global health (Gates Award for Global Health). The annual $1 million award recognizes organizations that have a long history of making contributions to global health.
Buffett said he would give the Gates Foundation, as well as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the funds managed by his three children, a stake in Berkshire Hathaway, which was worth about $37 billion as of last Friday. Most of these assets (80%) will go to the foundation Gates couple. Berkshire Hathaway's shares will be a powerful injection into their foundation, which is already the world's largest charitable foundation with more than $29 billion.
Warren Buffett said that he was very impressed with the work of the Gates Foundation and that it would be much more logical to give money to them than to try to expand his own foundation. The head of Microsoft said he was very honored by the donation because it was the largest charitable donation in US history.
The future second richest man in the world was born in 1930 in Omaha into the family of a stockbroker. He made his first deal at the age of 14, leasing 40 acres of land in Nebraska, purchased for $1,200, to a farmer. As an adult, Buffett created his first investment company in Omaha and became its general manager. In 1962, he bought shares in the Berkshire Hathaway textile plant (the basis of the future great empire), which, like the entire textile industry, was eking out a miserable existence. A few years later, when the American government provided benefits to insurance companies under the Social Security Act, Buffett bet on the insurance market. In the 1970s, he acquired five major insurance firms. Today, Berkshire Hathaway is a global investment holding company with large stakes in companies such as Coca-Cola and American Express, and manages $198 billion in assets. Berkshire Hathaway's largest portion of its business remains in insurance. In addition, Berkshire controls many companies operating in various sectors of the traditional economy.
It is noteworthy that both billionaires are preparing to end their business careers. Gates recently announced that he intends to step away from day-to-day management of the corporation by 2008 to focus on philanthropic activities, retaining his post as chairman of the board of directors of Microsoft "for the rest of his life." Buffett, back in March, “pleased” Berkshire Hathaway shareholders by identifying the person who would replace him at the head of the corporation “in the event of death or insanity.” Of course, he did not indicate the date of his possible resignation due to these two reasons, and also keeps the name of his successor secret.
Gates and Buffett have been friends for a long time. There is a story that at social events, Buffett loved to fool guests with a game that he himself invented: he offered to play dice, the points on the faces of which were located in a special way. The guests invariably lost. Bill Gates "saw through" him. When Buffett invited him to play, he agreed, but only on the condition that his opponent started the game. Gates realized that according to the theory of probability, the dice guarantee that the first player will lose. This probably earned Buffett special respect.
In 2004, Bill Gates joined the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway. Then observers even suggested that Buffett, having retired, could entrust the corporation to his younger friend. But these guesses have not yet been confirmed.