Latest news with #TheGivingPledge
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill Gates Pledging $200 Billion to a Worthy Cause
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft with his late friend and business partner Paul Allen. The company became a major part of the computer age, and Gates amassed billions in fortune following the success of the company's hardware and software. He became the world's youngest billionaire at the age of 31, the year after Microsoft went public. Gates then became the world's first centibillionaire, with a net worth of over $100 billion. After stepping down from many of his Microsoft-related duties, Gates has dedicated the most recent portion of his life to philanthropy. In line with that pursuit, Gates has contributed to several foundations and causes that aim to improve the lives of others. On Monday, Gates announced his intention for one of his most substantial donation efforts. "I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be given away over the next 20 years. The majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa," Gates said on Monday in Ethiopia, according to a statement from his charity. "By unleashing human potential through health and education, every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity — and that path is an exciting thing to be part of," he added, noting that his net worth would drop by 99% over the next 20 years as a result of the pledge. Gates, his ex-wife Melinda, Warren Buffett and others joined The Giving Pledge, which encourages billionaires to donate 50% or more of their wealth to philanthropic causes and humanitarian efforts. Other notable signees include Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg and MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Earlier this month, Gates said that he was inspired to donate the majority of his fortune after reading a quote from industrialist Andrew Carnegie. In his 1899 essay "The Gospel of Wealth," Carnegie said that "the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." Gates made his announcement at Nelson Mandela Hall at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday. Over 12,000 attended the event in person and virtually, including government officials, diplomats and youth leaders. Bill Gates Pledging $200 Billion to a Worthy Cause first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 2, 2025
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Things Warren Buffett Will Break His Frugal Habits For
Despite Warren Buffett's current net worth of $157.2 billion, according to Forbes, he is famously frugal and that's one of Buffett's charms. His 'value investor' concept goes far beyond his market-beating approach to investment decisions. Before we get into the list of the few things that will encourage Buffett to break his frugal habits, let's look at why this is surprising. Trending Now: For You: One example of Buffett's frugality is his still living in the five-bedroom family home he bought in 1958 for $31,500 in the Dundee area of Omaha. Berkshire Hathaway's head office is also in Omaha, Nebraska, not on Wall Street. Hence him being known as the 'Sage' or 'Oracle of Omaha,' Warren Buffett's investment and financial advice is second to none. So, Buffett is and always will be a frugal man — except for the following four things. Buffett is famously charitable. In 2010, alongside Microsoft founder Bill Gates and 100 other billionaires, he pledged to give away the vast majority of their fortunes to charity and good causes, according to The Giving Pledge. Buffett has already actively given away $62 billion to charities and philanthropic causes and will give away 99% of his enormous wealth to charity before or after he dies. Check Out: In that sense, he's following in the footsteps of famous 19th- and 20th-century industrial titans, financial magnates and philanthropists, like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, George Peabody and Angela Burdett-Coutts. Giving to charity or volunteering your time or skills is a worthwhile investment, both in yourself and society and unlike an activity that involves money, won't actually cost you anything. One of Buffett's largest splurges was on a private jet for the company, which was primarily intended to save time on travel. He first bought one for $850,000 — according to a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter — and then went even further a few years later on a used jet for $6.7 million. Even Buffett knows the purchase is an indulgence, dubbing the plane, 'The Indefensible.' The purchase makes a kind of sense with tons of travel across the country, it's dramatically more convenient and timely to have a plane you can jump on and off at will. And when you consider that Buffett's net worth at the time of the purchase was over $600 million, it's really a drop in his bucket. Buffett's annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters have always been a font of wisdom and inspiration for investors worldwide. One saying from a 2008 letter is: 'Price is what you pay; value is what you get.' When referring to buying everyday things or more lasting personal investments, like a house, car, furniture or clothes, his approach is: 'Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down,' Buffett wrote. So, he will buy quality, but at a discount, whenever possible, which is a sensible approach. The point is, not buying cheap goods for the sake of it, because in most cases, if it's cheap, like a pair of socks or shoes, you're going to need to replace it quicker than if you'd paid more for a better quality product. Investing in yourself is something that Warren Buffett is a big advocate for. In numerous interviews, he is credited with saying: 'Invest in as much of yourself as you can. You are your own biggest asset by far.' 'Anything you do to improve your own talents and make yourself more valuable will get paid off in terms of appropriate real purchasing power.' 'Anything you invest in yourself, you get back tenfold … Nobody can tax it away; they can't steal it from you.' Investing in yourself could mean: Therapy Fitness Diet Learning a new skill Learning a language Learning how to invest Further professional development A post-graduate course Looking after your mind and body are important themes for him and therefore, worth investing in: 'You only get one mind and one body. And it's got to last a lifetime. Now, it's very easy to let them ride for many years. But if you don't take care of that mind and that body, they'll be a wreck forty years later, just like the car would be,' he famously said in a speech. 'Invest in as much of yourself as you can,' Buffett said in a CNBC interview, to encourage people to investment in anything and everything that's worthwhile. 'I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking and make less impulse decisions than most people in business,' Buffett said in an interview for Time Magazine. Anyone who's ever read any of the famous Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters knows that they're full of literary, even Biblical and references to constant learning. He is a big believer in always learning, reading and therefore, buying and reading books. Reading, thinking and writing time is crucial for self-development and keeping a positive mental health and this is what Buffett is advocating, not only learning about investing and investment strategies. More From GOBankingRates Surprising Items People Are Stocking Up On Before Tariff Pains Hit: Is It Smart? These Cars May Seem Expensive, but They Rarely Need Repairs This article originally appeared on 5 Things Warren Buffett Will Break His Frugal Habits For Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Canva billionaire Cameron Adams and wife Lisa Miller join Bill Gates pledge to give away wealth
Canva co-founder Cameron Adams and his wife, Lisa Miller, have joined a pledge taken by the world's richest philanthropists to give most of their wealth to charity. The couple announced on Tuesday they had joined The Giving Pledge, a mechanism for the very wealthy to donate to a range of charitable causes, founded by Warren Buffet, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife Melinda French Gates. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Adams, worth an estimated $6.81bn in 2024 according to the Australian Financial Review, and Miller promised to dedicate the majority of their money to tackling environmental issues. 'Nature nourishes us, sustains us, inspires us, and shapes how we live. But today, many of the ecosystems that support our lives are being destroyed — and our future depends on how we choose to save them,' Adams said in a statement. 'Lisa and I believe that with good fortune comes great responsibility. We recognise that the opportunities we have had in life place us in a position to give generously and act with purpose.' According to its website, more than 240 of the world's wealthiest philanthropists from 30 countries have joined The Giving Pledge since 2010, with just a handful of Australians among them. Canva's other co-founders, Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, who married in 2021, signed up to the pledge in the same year, saying that they had wanted to do 'the most good we can do' with their online graphic design software platform, which was worth a reported $49bn by late 2024. Adams will have more access to his almost $7bn fortune soon, the AFR has reported, which has largely been in Canva equity. He and Miller had previously pledged to give 'most' of their fortune away through their nature-focused investment venture the Wedgetail Foundation, of which Miller is founder and CEO. Adams said their work through Wedgetail had given them confidence that environmental issues were 'worth fighting for' and that they were placed to make a 'unique contribution'. 'Through the Giving Pledge we are directing the majority of our wealth toward this, because the alternative – inaction on a dying planet – is unacceptable,' he said. 'We must not only halt nature's decline but also begin its restoration.' The Giving Pledge 'focuses on' those with a net worth of at least US$1bn or those who would be billionaires if not for their philanthropy, according to its website. Australian poker machine magnate Len Ainsworth took the pledge in 2017. He said at the time: 'As a private person, I prefer to minimise publicity of my philanthropic activities but at the same time realise that setting a positive example is the best way to encourage others to give back'.
AU Financial Review
19-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Canva co-founder pledges to give away half of his $7b fortune
Canva co-founder Cameron Adams and wife Lisa Miller have signed on to Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett's The Giving Pledge, committing to donate at least half their $7 billion fortune to charity over their lifetime. Adams and Miller (a zoologist who has also formerly worked at Canva) have also signed up for the London-based not-for-profit, Founder's Pledge, committing to give away 25 per cent of their wealth at points of 'liquidation' over the next five years.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'We Are Seeing Some Of Their True Personalities Come Out.' Melinda French Gates Speaks Out About The Rise of Billionaires In Politics
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Melinda French Gates criticized the recent trend of ultra-wealthy people getting involved in politics She spoke to concerns that the U.S. is becoming an oligarchy, telling the host she "hopes" that's not where things are heading The Pivotal Ventures founder also said that the ultra-wealthy have a "moral obligation" to use their money philanthropically When President Donald Trump put together his cabinet at the beginning of his second term, he stocked it with uber-wealthy businessmen. From Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the former CEO of Key Square Capital Management who has a net worth north of $500 million, to Steve Feinberg, the deputy secretary of cefense and former CEO of Cerberus Capital Management whose net worth hovers around $5 billion, these appointments are the most recent examples of the ultra wealthy dipping their toes into politics. Don't Miss: Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. The migrations from boardrooms to Capitol Hill have many worried that the country is becoming an oligarchy. Now, Melinda French Gates, who has a net worth of $14.5 billion, is speaking out. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, she was critical of the trend of wealthy individuals engaging in politics. Throughout the conversation with host Abby Phillip, French Gates reiterated her oft-espoused belief that "to whom much is given, much is expected," making it clear that she did not approve of the way many ultra-wealthy are currently pouring money into electing their preferred candidates or using their fortunes to buy themselves powerful positions. Trending: The secret weapon in billionaire investor portfolios that you almost certainly don't own yet. In response to Phillip's inquiry about whether this political focus is new or has always existed in these sorts of upper-class circles, French Gates replied, "I think we are seeing some of their true personalities come out in the last few years. I think this has always been in the undertone of lots of people... I think some of the particular people you're seeing right now, the values that they espouse are just different than mine." Continuing, "I know a lot of these folks. I've met a lot of them." And when asked point-blank if she thought the country was on the verge of becoming an oligarchy, she replied, "I hope not." Instead of politics, French Gates would like to see her peers investing money in more charitable causes. In 2010, she started The Giving Pledge with then-husband Bill Gates and billionaire Warren Buffett. The initiative pushes the ultra-wealthy to donate at least half of their fortunes to charitable and philanthropic causes, either during their lifetimes or after death through their wills and endowments. "If you have a billion dollars, that's an absurd amount of wealth. You have a moral responsibility to give away at least half of it," French Gates said. Read Next: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — .Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'We Are Seeing Some Of Their True Personalities Come Out.' Melinda French Gates Speaks Out About The Rise of Billionaires In Politics originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
