Buffett to give fortune away

Quote from MRWSM:

Looks like his kids get the shaft.
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I think a good bit of the money is going to three different charities run by Buffet's children. So essentially they are inheriting tax free...
 
Quote from jerryz:

the gates foundation already has $32 billion in it. so there you go. most of bill gates' wealth is already in it. it's a tax shelter guys. he's not leaving microsoft to focus on philantropical efforts. he's leaving microsoft to focus on the organization that has his money.

for you to receive the enormous tax benefits of the tax shelter, your "philantropic" entity must distribute a minimum of 5% of the assets you contributed to it assets. 5% of $32 billion is $1.6 billion, which is the amount of money that the gates foundation distributed last year. in return, he can sell his microsoft stock inside the gates foundation and not pay ANY capital gains tax. can you imagine how much money this is for someone like bill gates? then he can use the foundation to pay himself a salary. lose 5% a year, but gain many times that in tax savings.

if the rest of the money was simpy in treasury bills then he will be making that 5% back.

this is how the game is played guys. he uses a tax loophole specially designed for people like him, and then makes himself look good in the press. sure, someone down the line probably did benefit from the $1.6 billion that was actually distributed (see my earlier post), but it's nowhere near the $32 billion number.
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Exactly! I know that most of the large, famous foundations actually grow in size, i.e. they are primarily investment vehicles. In addition, as you mentioned, they also can distribute "salaries" and essentially take care of friends and family for a lifetime.

The danger is that the boards can be taken over after one's death by people unfriendly to your original desires. This has happened in a few cases. So in Gates' case he could find that his ever-growing 32 billion being used by others indefinitely to promote cause/ideas that he does not believe in...
 
Quote from jerryz:

the gates foundation already has $32 billion in it. so there you go. most of bill gates' wealth is already in it. it's a tax shelter guys. he's not leaving microsoft to focus on philantropical efforts. he's leaving microsoft to focus on the organization that has his money.

for you to receive the enormous tax benefits of the tax shelter, your "philantropic" entity must distribute a minimum of 5% of the assets you contributed to it assets. 5% of $32 billion is $1.6 billion, which is the amount of money that the gates foundation distributed last year. in return, he can sell his microsoft stock inside the gates foundation and not pay ANY capital gains tax. can you imagine how much money this is for someone like bill gates? then he can use the foundation to pay himself a salary. lose 5% a year, but gain many times that in tax savings.

if the rest of the money was simpy in treasury bills then he will be making that 5% back.

this is how the game is played guys. he uses a tax loophole specially designed for people like him, and then makes himself look good in the press. sure, someone down the line probably did benefit from the $1.6 billion that was actually distributed (see my earlier post), but it's nowhere near the $32 billion number.
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Finally someone who states the truth.:D
 
Quote from ArbProfit:

The distribution is small relative to the fund so that the pricipal is not used and the fund can exist perpetually.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/p...rts/annualreport05/financials_grants_paid.htm

Of course great financial leaders will donate money in the most economically advantageous way they can, but to think that they are setting these up to profit is not only cynical, but pathetic.
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I may not have worded things quite right. I agree that they don't profit from the entire amount in the foundation. But the fund will grow almost for sure and therefore is "economically advantageous" by definition. And it probably will benefit Gates' family and friends directly.


It's a great way to keep the vultures out of your money rather than watching friends and relatives self-destruct with that kind of wealth. They get a nice salary but not instant control of a billion dollars which they could not handle.

And even more important: they can also perpetuate a specific moral and social agenda...
 
Question: Once that money is in the Bill Gates Fund, can they change their mind in the future and decide to take it back and not donate it?

Personally if I had that kind of money I would start helping people that need help directly and would start in the country that I made the money in. There's plenty of people in need in the USA. I would go around and pay off people's mortgage. This would help the economy and would get a lot more appreciation from people. Giving money to help India with their health problems will not be appreciated by anyone. In fact they will still hate Americans regardless of any help.
 
Quote from MRWSM:

Giving money to help India with their health problems will not be appreciated by anyone. In fact they will still hate Americans regardless of any help.
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Are you sure you meant the people from India? The people of India don't hate America - quite the opposite if you ask me...
 
Quote from MRWSM:

Personally if I had that kind of money I would start helping people that need help directly and would start in the country that I made the money in.
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A large portion of annual grants are made to education programs in the United States, but most is still allocated to global health issues. The fund operates on the belief that all lives are equal. American lives are not worth more than African lives.
 
Quote from ShoeshineBoy:

Are you sure you meant the people from India? The people of India don't hate America - quite the opposite if you ask me...
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Well, I would say it seems as a whole, everyone hates us. But regardless, there's a lot of suffering right here in the US. A huge amount have to decide between health care or paying their mortgage. They sucked their money from here, why not put some back rather than sending it abroad.
 
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