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ABC News: Construction of a Charity Empire?

ABC News Construction of a Charity Empire?

"As Warren Buffett signs away most of his fortune, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation finds its resources soaring to $60 billion, nearly doubling its opportunities to help the common good.

But what can the foundation do with that much cash? For starters, treat each of the 40 million people worldwide infected with HIV/AIDS. They can also cut world hunger in half and fund vaccinations that could save 6 million kids a year.

"When you look at the amount of resources that are now going to be in the Gates Foundation, we could be looking at literally tens of millions of lives saved over the next decade," said Dr. Nils Daulaire of the Global Health Council."

Fortune A conversation with Warren Buffett
"In any case, Susie didn't get very excited when I told her we were going to get rich. She either didn't care or didn't believe me - probably both, in fact. But to the extent we did amass wealth, we were totally in sync about what to do with it - and that was to give it back to society.

In that, we agreed with Andrew Carnegie, who said that huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should in large part be returned to society. In my case, the ability to allocate capital would have had little utility unless I lived in a rich, populous country in which enormous quantities of marketable securities were traded and were sometimes ridiculously mispriced. And fortunately for me, that describes the U.S. in the second half of the last century."

International Herald Tribune In Buffett gift, challenge for Gates
"And Bill Gates went further, saying that while he may be "overly optimistic," he felt that they had a real shot at finding cures for the top 20 infectious diseases in the world, as well as ensuring that every American has a chance at a decent education.

"Can that happen in our lifetime?" Gates said, sitting next to Buffett at the New York Public Library, where the gift was formally announced. "I'll be optimistic and say absolutely.""

Mercury News Fine print revealed in Buffett donation to Gates Foundation
"Buffett is giving the Gates Foundation more than $30 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock at the rate of about $1.5 billion a year. But the donation comes with some important requirements: The Gates Foundation must distribute Buffett's money in the year that it's donated. And each year's donation will be made only if Bill or Melinda Gates is alive and actively involved in the foundation."

Forbes Investing Billions
"Were The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation a public company, it would rank among the entire world's 400 largest by asset size--before getting a single dime of Warren Buffett's promised money.

But the $35 billion of assets listed on the foundation's latest financial statement, as of Dec. 31, is only one measure of its gargantuan magnitude. An active, aggressive player in financial markets, the foundation turns over the equivalent of its entire asset base on average about every two months. During 2005, the cash-flow statement shows, it purchased a staggering $250.7 billion of investments while selling $251.2 billion. Turnover at the foundation was at a far more furious pace than that at Berkshire Hathaway, the source of its new riches."

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ABC News: Construction of a Charity Empire?

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