Look To The Stars News: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates Has Big Charity Ideas

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:30:00 -0000

Over the next ten years, Bill Gates plans to spend $10 billion on vaccines for children in the developing world. That’s more than double what his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent in the past ten years, and which is already seen as a phenomenal success.

At the TED conference last month, however, he put vaccines for the poor countries aside in order to address climate change as he thinks energy and climate are most important to those same poorest countries: climate determines if crops grow or not, and energy prices determine what they can afford.

Gates says we need energy miracles, and now we have a deadline. To reduce C02 output to near zero, which is the necessary target according to current scientific predictions, Gates thinks TerraPower might have an answer. He is placing his hopes on innovation and he’s backing a traveling wave reactor design that would supply the world’s energy using mostly the depleted uranium waste from today’s reactors, of which there is plenty, instead of using only enriched uranium like current reactors. Nevertheless, he recognizes the need for many solutions.

“If you gave me only one wish for the next 50 years,” he said at the conference, “[it’s that] this thing that’s half the cost with no C02 gets invented. This is the wish I would pick. This is the one with the greatest impact.”

Besides wishes and vaccines, Gates apparently has many great ideas. During the conference, Edge.org organized a dinner for some of the great minds attending TED. According to Skepticblog’s Michael Shermer, Gates had his table mates enraptured: “Bill Gates was the star and we were tiny planets in orbit around him, sitting there like acolytes at the feet of the guru, asking him questions and listening to his lengthy and thoughtful answers.”

You can watch Bill Gates’ TED presentation here

Bill Gates Puts His Philanthropic Diaries Online

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Spurred by his philanthropy, not only is Bill Gates now on twitter, but he’s also set up a website detailing what he’s learning about global issues.

In Gates’ own words:

“Since leaving my fulltime job at Microsoft to dedicate more time to our foundation, a lot of people have asked me what I’m working on. It often feels like I’m back in school, as I spend a lot of my time learning about issues I’m passionate about.

“I’m fortunate because the people I’m working with and learning from are true experts in their fields. I take a lot of notes, and often share them and my own thoughts on the subject with others through email, so I can learn from them and expand the conversation.

“I thought it would be interesting to share these conversations more widely with a website, in the hope of getting more people thinking and learning about the issues I think are interesting and important. So, welcome to the Gates Notes.”

Bill Gates Gives Big To Irish Aid Agency

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will give $41 million to Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide to help fight baby and mother death rates in developing countries.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will fund an initiative that will field-test new ways to deliver maternal, newborn and child health solutions in six countries in Africa and South Asia.

“Half a million women die every year in childbirth, the majority in developing countries,” said Tom Arnold, chief executive of Concern Worldwide. “The whole point of this is to look for breakthroughs.”

Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to reducing suffering and ending extreme poverty. Since the beginning, over 40 years ago, their focus has been on improving the lives of the poorest people.

The initiative will begin in Sierra Leone and Malawi, where one in every 18 women dies during pregnancy or childbirth. For more information about the charity, click here.

Warren Buffett Donates To Bill Gates Foundation

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated a further $1.25 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The donation is part of a series of donations promised by the business legend, who has pledged the majority of his wealth to the foundation run by the former Microsoft chairman to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty.

Buffett also donated $125 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and nearly $50 million each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

Last year, Buffett transferred $1.8 billion to the charity as part of his plan to give away 85% of his fortune to charity.

Annual Buffett Lunch Auction Bidding Hits $75,000

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:15:00 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Each year around June, former World’s Richest Man Warren Buffett auctions off the opportunity to dine with him, and the well-heeled winners’ bids go straight to charity.

In the 6 previous years that Buffett has presented this opportunity, financiers and entrepreneurs keen to share his legendary market wisdom have handed over more than $4.2 million, primarily to Glide, a charity that supports San Francisco’s homeless community.

The 2006 lunch went for $610,000, while 2007’s fetched $650,000, and last year’s pre-market-collapse lunch cost the winner a record $2.1 million.

Just 2 days into the 2009 auction, hosted at eBay, slated to finish on Friday 26th, bidding has reached $75,000, comparable to the 2007 bidding. We’ll report back with the final result.

Buffett also eats other meals for charity, auctioning off his dinner company in 2007 in support of the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness.

In 2006 he sold his town car at charity auction to benefit Girls Inc. The vehicle sported his personalized “THRIFTY” license plate, but the real beneficiary of his thrift that year was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to which he pledged $37bn — the bulk of his fortune.

Bill Gates Foundation Empowers Africa’s Livestock Farmers

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

In some of the poorest nations on earth, 25% of livestock are dying from preventable diseases. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UK Department for International Development (DFID) are donating £28 million to stifle it.

The donation went to charity GALVMed (Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines), who will focus on 13 diseases over 10 years, some of which can pass from animal to human causing even more disturbing numbers of deaths.

But in communities that depend on livestock for basic levels of income and food, proper distribution of vaccines is key. Thus, besides making existing vaccines available and developing some new ones, Galvmed has been developing a strategy for the distribution of them through supply networks, community-level networks and activities to empower local people, reported The Times.

To the Gates' Foundation, the long-term benefits are clear.

“Livestock are a vital asset for many smallholder farmers and their families in developing countries,” said Dr Rajiv Shah, the Foundation’s director of Agricultural Development in the Global Development Program. “Improved technologies that help prevent disease in these animals can help farmers build assets, protect themselves against risk and, over time, lift their families out of poverty.”

Galvmed’s director of policy and external affairs, Dr Hameed Nuru, sees it as a necessity to any aid package. “African people depend on their livestock, more so than any continent,” he said in The Times report. “Livestock and people are intertwined, for religious reasons, for ceremonial reasons, social and economic reason, for food and security. If we help these farmers to get affordable, sustainable vaccines and other products it will go a very long way to improving their livelihood. That is the bottom line.”

How Bill Gates Is Trying To Change The World

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Bill Gates spoke at a TED conference this month about two things his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is working on and some of the obstacles it’s facing. He proposed two questions. The first one was: How do we stop a deadly disease that’s spread by mosquitoes?

Now that malaria no longer exists in the rich countries of the world, more money is being spent on baldness cures than on eliminating malaria from poor countries. “Now, baldness is a terrible thing,” Gates quipped, "and rich men are afflicted. That’s why that priority has been set.

“Even the million deaths a year caused by malaria greatly understate its impact. Over 200 million people at any one time are suffering from it. It means that you can’t get the economies in these areas going because it holds things back so much.”

Mosquito nets used for sleeping mothers and their children, plus the use of DDT has been effective in reducing deaths from malaria. However, because both mosquitoes and the malaria parasite evolve, every tool used in combating malaria eventually becomes ineffective.

Gates’ solution: “If you go into a country with the right tools in the right way and you do it vigorously, you can actually get a local eradication.”

His second question, addressing the dismal results of United State’s education system was: How do you make a teacher great?

“Over 30% of kids never finish high school,” said Gates. “For minority kids, it’s over 50%. If you’re low income in the United States you have a higher chance of going to jail than you do of getting a four-year degree.”

His Foundation has targeted this with things like scholarships and investing in libraries and schools, which has helped somewhat. Through studies, though, Gates has come to the conclusion that the key to increasing the educated population is by providing great teachers, something that is not happening enough.

Nevertheless, Bill Gates is ever the optimist: “People are beginning to recognize how important this is. And it really can make a difference for millions of lives if we get it right. It’s going to take brilliant people like you [at TED] to study these things, get other people involved and your helping to come up with solutions.”

Bill Gates Bites Back At Malaria

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Wendy Williams

It was not a “swarm of mosquitoes,” unless you believe that less than ten mosquitoes constitutes a “swarm.” And despite news reports to the contrary, the audience was not upset. They laughed loudly when Microsoft-founder Bill Gates released the bugs. On YouTube videos, the elite audience laughed and applauded when Gates declared about mosquitoes, “There’s no reason only poor people should have the experience.”

Yet news reports described the insects as a “swarm,” the audience as “shocked,” and the stunt as “a show stopper.” However, Gates’ speech on the dangers of malaria continued without a hitch, as did the conference itself.

The event was TED2009, the annual Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference in Long Beach, Calif. TED attracts technology and business leaders, politicians, and media stars.

Gates unleashed the mosquitoes to bring attention to the devastating toll mosquito-borne malaria takes each year in developing countries. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into malaria research and prevention, investing in everything from funding grants and education to purchasing mosquito nets.

Fighting malaria is such an important goal of the extremely well-endowed Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they were criticized last year by the World Health Organization as a cartel, dominating malaria research and stifling a free exchange of ideas. The Gates Foundation denied the charge.

A former employee of Microsoft from the company’s early days, John Clifford, said the mosquito stunt “was not characteristic of Gates, but is of TED.”

The mosquito release did invoke the inevitable jokes tying Microsoft to bugs. Chris Anderson of TED joked that the organization’s headline for their video of Gates’ speech would read, “Gates releases more bugs into the world.”

As The Feed web site joked, “If there’s one thing Microsoft rules at, it’s got to be the releasing of bugs.”

Buffett Shares With Charities

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A Chinese businessman jumped at the chance to dine with Warren Buffett for charity last week.

Hedge fund manager Zhao Danyang offered a winning bid of $2.1 million for a chance to have lunch with the Berkshire Hathaway chairman, with all profits going to Glide to benefit their programs for the hungry. The bid goes far beyond last year’s winning bid of $650,000, and 2006’s winning bid of $620,000.

“We danced in the streets there for a short time,” said the Rev. Cecil Williams from Glide. “The streets of San Francisco! We were dancing and singing!”

The 77-year-old billionaire also announced this week that he is donating 512,169 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to three charitable foundations in keeping with his plan to give away the bulk of his fortune. Most of the shares – worth $3,999 each and totaling over $2.1 billion – will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Buffett has already announced he will give 10 million shares to the Gates Foundation over the next few years, with a further 1 million shares going to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 350,000 shares for each of the three foundations run by his three children.

A Chance To Buffet With Buffett

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Fancy having lunch with one of the richest men on the planet? Now could be your chance, with an auction being run this week offering the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dine with Warren Buffett.

The auction opened on Sunday and has already reached bids of over $77,000, with the final proceeds going to the Glide Foundation, a nonprofit in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district that offers programs for the poor, hungry and homeless. The 77-year-old billionaire investor started donating the private lunches to charity in 2000, and last year’s winner forked out more than $650,000 to enjoy a buffet with Buffett.

And there’ll certainly be no embarrassing lapses in conversation at the table – you can take up to seven friends to enjoy the meal, which will be held at Manhattan steakhouse Smith & Wollensky.

Earlier this year, Forbes magazine estimated Buffet’s net worth at being around $62 billion, and the investor has already pledged most of that to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in his will.

The auction can be accessed via eBay and ends this Friday (June 27).

Bill Gates To Leave His Billions To Charity

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

He may be going, but he won’t be forgotten – Microsoft founder Bill Gates has announced he will be leaving $58 billion to charity in his will, just a week before he officially steps down from his role as executive chairman of the company.

The 52-year-old has promised to donate the money to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charitable fund he set up with his wife to finance health and education programs around the world.

’We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive impact," he said. “I want to make a positive contribution to the world.”

Gates Talks Innovation, Philanthropy and Post-Retirement Plans

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:15:29 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Microsoft frontman Bill Gates spoke to students at Stanford earlier this month, praising young people for their innovation, and raising awareness for philanthropic work.

The talk began with a spoof video, during which Gates detailed his post-retirement plans. After retiring from his job at Microsoft later this year, Gates has a goal to break into the music industry. But, in the video, Jay-Z doesn’t have the heart to tell him that his chances are slim. And Bono tells him there is no chance of replacing The Edge as U2's guitarist.

“Bill, we’ve, uh, we’ve talked about this before. We’re full up in the band, Bill. All positions are filled. I know… I know… I can’t just replace Edge because you got a high score on Guitar Hero.”

Bono continues, Office-style, “Bill’s always had a passion for music… and as long as it’s not my music, I’m fine with that.”

During the spoof, Gates also considers a career in film, and goes to director Steven Spielberg for help. Spielberg does what he can, though George Clooney isn’t so hot on the idea.

The video goes on to show Gates asking Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama if he can be their running mate, and finally calling Al Gore.

“No, it’s not an inconvenient time… Yeah, I get it. That was a good one,” says Gore.

After the video, Gates returned his Stanford talk to the topics at hand. “One of the best investments any company makes is in its research group and in the relationship its research group has with universities,” Gates said. “Students have really been at the heart of a lot of breakthroughs.” Microsoft announced that same day that it is making its software development tools available to high school and college students at no cost.

Gates then discussed his plans to work full-time with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stating that his focal point is curing diseases, particularly life-threatening diseases in the Third World. He pointed out that there is a ratio of about 50 to 1 in the spending on finding a cure for baldness vs. finding a cure for malaria.

The foundation was famously pledged $37 billion by Warren Buffett in 2006, having already made grants totalling $10.5bn in the previous 12 years. Commenting on Buffett’s donation to the fund, Bill Gates said, “It is a big challenge to make sure this money gets used in the right way, but it is one we are thrilled about.” And soon, Gates will be dedicating his entire working day to doing just that.

Former Presidents Bush and Clinton Hailed For Charity Work

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:54:20 -0000

Written by Crystal A. Johnson

The stars came out in early September not only to celebrate the marking of the 75th anniversary of Save the Children but to hail the former U.S. Commanders in Chief George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton for their humanitarian efforts worldwide. The specific work recognized was the presidents’ efforts to raise money for the victims of the tsunami in Indonesia and Hurricane Katrina.

Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was also recognized. The foundation has given $110 million to Save the Children over 11 years in an effort to help reduce child mortality rates in 18 developing countries, said Foundation spokesman Mike Kiernan. Save the Children was created in 1932 to ensure the well-being of children worldwide, including 12 and more than 50 countries.

Academy Award-nominated Samuel L. Jackson was the master of ceremonies at the event, which took place in a tent outside of the renowned Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. A long list of dignitaries and a who’s who of Hollywood attended the event, including Julianne Moore, Drew Carey, Mischa Barton, Edie Falco, and Blythe Danner. Representing Save The Children on the night were Mark Kennedy Shriver, vice president and managing director of the charity’s U.S. programs, and Charles MacCormack, president and CEO.

The evening also featured Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, a group of musician who lived in refugee camps after fleeing the tumultuous environment of their homeland. The band’s leader, Reuben Koroma, worked with Save the Children in the camps where he encouraged the children to express their experiences through music and dance.

The work of Save the Children has made significant inroads in countries around the world. The organization states that most children are polio free, that the number of children who can read and write has increased by almost 50 percent, and that half as many children age five die each year now compared to in 1960.

Idol Gives Back $60m

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 19:25:51 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Fox has announced that $60m has been raised so far by the two-night “Idol Gives Back” special, with donations continuing to flow in.

Viewers cast over 70 million votes following Tuesday night’s performances; Fox’s parent company News Corporation had pledged 10 cents for each of the first 50 million votes, and its donation was matched by AllState and ExxonMobil. Further corporate donations came from Ford, Coca-Cola, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ConAgra Foods and AT&T.

During a two-hour results show on Wednesday, viewers pledged money via a toll-free number and Idol’s website, while host Ellen DeGeneres gave $100,000 and judge Simon Cowell made a “significant six-figure donation”.

Celebrities pre-recorded appeals for donations, including Madonna, who was in Malawi, and Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, who was in Uganda where he filmed “The Last King of Scotland.”

U2's Bono also sent a pre-recorded message, saying, “People say you can’t be the generation that ends brutal, stupid poverty, but we can and we will,”

The money raised will be administered by the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF), a new charity aiming to battle extreme poverty in America and Africa.

In Africa, the Fund will use the Idol money to support The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Malaria No More, Nothing But Nets, Save the Children, and The U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

In America, CPEF will use the money to boost Save the Children, Second Harvest, Boys' and Girls' Clubs of America, and Children's Health Fund.

Mark Shriver, VP of U.S. programs for Save the Children, told Reuters, “They took a risk by using their show to raise issues of poverty and asking people to contribute, and that is a huge accomplishment. The American Idol format is hugely successful and they introduced starving, dying children in Africa and children struggling with poverty in the United States, and brought that to prime time television.”

Fans can still contribute directly via the Idol website, or visit the iTunes Store to buy for-charity recordings of the night’s performances by the contestants and celebrities including Céline Dion, Josh Groban, Annie Lennox, Earth Wind & Fire, and Il Divo.

Warren Buffett Gives 85% of Fortune To Bill Gates' Foundation

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 07:45:03 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

In a stunning move the world’s second richest man Warren Buffett has announced that he will donate around $37bn of his personal fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The sum, which represents 85% of his enormous personal fortune, will be paid in 10 million shares in his Berkshire Hathaway investments firm.

“This has been coming for 50 years,” said Buffett. “There’s never really been any other plan in terms of where the money should go.”

He added, “I am not an enthusiast of dynastic wealth, particularly when the alternative is six billion people having that much poorer hands in life than we have, having a chance to benefit from the money.”

Bill Gates and wife Melinda said in a statement, “We are awed by our friend Warren Buffet’s decision to use his fortune to address the world’s most challenging inequities, and we are humbled that he has chosen to direct a large portion of it to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”

Buffett said he chose to distribute his wealth to an existing foundation out of respect for its current work, telling Fortune magazine, “Who wouldn’t select Tiger Woods to take his place in a high-stakes golf game? That’s how I feel about this decision with my money.”

Gates Open To More Charity Work

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:37:07 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

College drop-out turned technology super-star Bill Gates announced that over the next two years he will withdraw from his daily role at Microsoft in order to dedicate himself full-time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

At 50, Gates is currently the world’s richest man, with a personal
worth estimated at $50 billion. The $30 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on health and education charities.

The Microsoft founder is one of many philanthropists helping others using wealth gained quickly through the technology boom.

Fellow Microsoft pioneer, Paul Allen, awards nearly $30 million in grants every year through a charitable fund he created.

Other big players include eBay creator Pierre Omidya, who
created a $400 million fund to aid development in poverty-stricken countries, and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who have dedicated $1 billion to fighting poverty and helping energy consumption.

San Diego School Surprise

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 15:32:41 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Students at San Diego High School were thrilled at the unexpected arrival of Oprah, Bill Gates, and Gates’ wife Melinda. The visitors were there to film a future segment of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” about an $11 million donation in 2003 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Three large high schools in the area received funds to assist in their efforts to increase the number of college-ready graduates, particularly among low-income and minority students. Some of the money was used to divide the San Diego High School into six smaller schools. Each of the smaller schools specializes in a particular field, such as business, international studies, media or science.

Look To The Stars News: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates Has Big Charity Ideas

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