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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) is the largest
transparently-operated [1] charitable foundation in the world. Founded by
Bill Gates, and named after Gates and his wife,
Melinda, the aim of the foundation is to provide lifesaving health care products and technology for the poorest parts of the world. The foundation is based in
Seattle, Washington and is led by
William H. Gates, Sr. (Bill Gates' father) and
Patty Stonesifer. As of June 2006, it has an endowment of approximately
US$29.2
billion
Contents
History
Initially funded by Bill Gates with US$106 million in 2000, during the foundation's first two years, funding grew to US$2 billion. The B&MGF was endowed by
Bill Gates, chairman and founder of
Microsoft and his wife,
Melinda Gates in January 2000 through the merger of the
Gates Learning Foundation and the
William H. Gates Foundation. On
June 15,
2006, Gates announced his plans to transition out of a day-to-day role with
Microsoft effective
July 31,
2008[3], to allow him to devote more time to working with the foundation.
Bill and
Melinda Gates, along with the singer
Bono, were named by
TIME as
Persons of the Year 2005 for their charitable work. In the case of Bill and Melinda Gates, the work referenced was that of the B&MGF. On
May 4,
2006, the foundation received the
Prince of Asturias award for International Cooperation.
[4]
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The Warren Buffett Donation
On
June 25,
2006,
Warren Buffett, the world's second richest person after Gates, pledged to give the foundation approximately 10 million
Berkshire Hathaway Class B
shares (worth US$30.7 billion on June 23, 2006) spread over multiple years through annual contributions.
[5] Buffett set conditions so that these contributions do not simply increase the foundation's endowment, but effectively work as a matching contribution, doubling the Foundation's annual giving: "Buffett's gift came with three conditions for the Gates foundation: Bill or Melinda Gates must be alive and active in its administration; it must continue to qualify as a charity; and each year it must give away an amount equal to the previous year's Berkshire gift, plus another 5 percent of net
assets. Buffett gave the foundation two years to abide by the third requirement."
[6] The Gates Foundation will receive 5% (500,000) of the shares in July 2006 and will receive 5% of the
remaining earmarked shares in the July of each following year (475,000 in 2007, 451,250 in 2008, and so on).
[7] [8]
Activities
The foundation's grants have provided funds for underrepresented minority college
scholarships,
AIDS prevention,
diseases that strike mainly in the
Third World, and other causes. The Foundation currently provides 17% (US$86 million in 2006) of the world budget for the attempted eradication of
poliomyelitis (polio)
[9]. In June 1999, Gates and his wife donated US$5 billion to the foundation. They have donated more than US$100 million to help children suffering from AIDS. On
January 26,
2005, it was announced that the Foundation had made a further contribution of US$750 million to the international
Vaccine Fund to help fight diseases such as
diphtheria,
whooping cough,
measles,
poliomyelitis and
yellow fever. The Gates Foundation has quickly become a major influence upon global health; the approximately US$800 million that the foundation gives every year for global health approaches the annual budget of the
United Nations' World Health Organization and is comparable to the funds given to fight infectious disease by the
United States Agency for International Development.
[10]
As of 2006, the foundation has an
endowment of approximately US$26.9 billion. To maintain its status as a charitable foundation, it must donate at least 5% of its assets each year.
[11] Thus the donations from the foundation each year would amount to over US$1 billion at a minimum. After Buffett's donation is accounted for, the charity will be required to give out a minimum of US$2.8 billion each year, which averages out to be about US$90 every second throughout the year.
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και ακομα ποτε δεν υπηρξε κιτς πλουσιος του στυλ επιχρυσωνω μια ρολς-ρους. Και ο ανθρωπος ξερει και απο τεχνολογια. Τωρα η αποφαση του αυτη με κανει να νοιωθω πιο πολυ respect. Γιατι γνωριζω αρκετους επιχειρηματιες που let go δε κανουν με τιποτα. Και δεν εχουν και τη microsoft.
