BILL GATES: Humanitarianism
Written by david dang
An instigator of the technological boom of the 1990s, Bill Gates’ Microsoft empire became the leading behemoth in the personal computing industry. The wealth Gates generates through his business ventures is enough to keep him among the list of richest people in the world every year. Rather than engaging in a life of indulgence with his colossal fortune, however, Gates decided to follow in the footsteps of great entrepreneurs of the past, such as Carnegie, and contribute back to society. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has been able to give back to his community by helping combat numerous social problems worldwide, including the AIDS epidemic, poverty, disease, and environmental issues.
Gates stepped down from running Microsoft full time in 2008, despite being Chairman of the Board, in order to focus more on his philanthropic work. His philanthropic work includes running his charitable foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates has also made significant donations to many causes worldwide through grants. These include but are not limited to: $1.5 billion dollars to the GAVI Alliance to expand childhood immunization, $264.5 million to AGRA to improve the soil quality in Africa, and $19.8 million to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia to provide public computers in libraries (Foundation Fact Sheet).
Of his own wealth Gates has contributed a total of $17.5 billion (Sharf, “Untying The Philanthropic Knot Of Gates And Buffett Giving"), which comes as a cost of losing the title of world's richest man. According to David Lincoln, director of global valuations at wealth research firm Wealth-X, "It wouldn't be a competition. (Gates) would have a comfortable margin if he had never discovered philanthropy" (Nichols, “Bill Gates's philanthropy costs him richest-man title”).
Gates stepped down from running Microsoft full time in 2008, despite being Chairman of the Board, in order to focus more on his philanthropic work. His philanthropic work includes running his charitable foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates has also made significant donations to many causes worldwide through grants. These include but are not limited to: $1.5 billion dollars to the GAVI Alliance to expand childhood immunization, $264.5 million to AGRA to improve the soil quality in Africa, and $19.8 million to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia to provide public computers in libraries (Foundation Fact Sheet).
Of his own wealth Gates has contributed a total of $17.5 billion (Sharf, “Untying The Philanthropic Knot Of Gates And Buffett Giving"), which comes as a cost of losing the title of world's richest man. According to David Lincoln, director of global valuations at wealth research firm Wealth-X, "It wouldn't be a competition. (Gates) would have a comfortable margin if he had never discovered philanthropy" (Nichols, “Bill Gates's philanthropy costs him richest-man title”).
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