I'm curious Craig, in your opinion/estimation, choosing between yourself and Bill Gates, who is a more generous person, and why do you answer so?
Bill Gates: billionaire philanthropist
by Simon 36 Replies latest social current
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onacruse
Sixer:
I'm curious Craig, in your opinion/estimation, choosing between yourself and Bill Gates, who is a more generous person, and why do you answer so?
Because, counted as a percentage of our disposable income and assets, Kate and I have given far more money to friends in need, charities, etc, than has Bill Gates. I daresay that many others can say the same.
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Simon
Craig, with respect, I doubt that yo uhave even as a percentage. I know I haven't.
If he keeps $1bn and gives $1bn away then that is 50% ...
Yes, he is rich, but so are many others who do not seem to do anything but pander to their own whims (Larry Ellison?)
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funkyderek
How the hell did they get their fortunes to begin with?
Mostly by producing products that people are willing to pay for.
Gates is a Harvard business grad, and his aggressive techniques are a model. That he just decided to offer a $3.00-per-share payout from the $60B MS cash stash was only because they finally worked their way through the largest of dozens of huge lawsuits against MS for monopoly and patent-infringement.
Had I been in Gates' position, I think I would have simply shut up shop and withdrawn my products from the market. Give the vultures their money and let them use Netscape, WordPerfect and OS/2.
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seattleniceguy
Geez, Craig, you make it sound like being successful at business is a bad thing.
I know this sounds over the top, but I actually think that companies such as Microsoft make the world a better place. This becomes clear if we think of the progress in communications technology that has occurred over the past 10 or 15 years. Microsoft has a mammoth R&D budget which allows them to spend the time, energy, and brainpower to push these technologies forward. Yes, it has happened in a capitalist context, but the outcome to Joe Consumer is cheaper and faster access to information and communication. You can now easily correspond via a multiplicity of methods with people all over the earth, and to a large degree this technology has been made cheap and ubiquitous through the efforts of companies such as Microsoft.
In a capitalist context, companies that produce good products get rewarded. There is no sin in that. If Bill sees fit to donate large chunks of the spoils to humanitarian purposes, why should he be derided for it?
SNG
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Simon
Yeah, look at investment trusts for ethical companies and you will see that many are very heavy with tech companies. What harm do they do?
Also, it's easy to forget what computing was like before Microsoft and Windows came on the scene and created some standards and consistency.
[ que some Mac owner to claim that MS didn't invent WIMP but not realise that Apple didn't either ]
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Golf
You all have your opinions, as for me, I'll go against the grain.
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freedom96
I have no issues with Bill Gates. To create such a large profitable business, and do good around him with giving money away to charities, is something to be proud of.
Good for him.
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Mulan
Would you invest???
You bet I would, if I knew then what I know now. I had never paid much attention to who he was until about 15 years ago, and I thought personal computers would never catch on. Shows you what a visionary I was.
