Bill Gates Makes $10B Vaccines Pledge

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Say what you will about Bill Gates, the man is as generous as they come and deserves credit for all his charitable contributions. That, and he’s a smooth dancer. ;)

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda say their foundation will donate $10 billion over the next decade to research new vaccines and bring them to the world's poorest countries.
Click to expand...
 
that's like single handedly changing the world... not too many people could even do that!
 
Good for him. Better than most people of his wealth status.
I don't think I can name another billionaire who has given that much away or if any.
He can give 10B away for 40 years (until he is dead) and he would still be rich.
 
Dude's got heart. I'll give him that.

...but how much mercury is in those vaccines?
 
krupted said:
that's like single handedly changing the world... not too many people could even do that!
Click to expand...

lol, you'd expect his twitter to say "Off to save the world" or something else heroic. But indeed, I don't believe many hold Bill Gates in a bad light (if they do, they need a reality check). He's dedicated time and money to make the world a better place as he doesn't really seem to need much else (considering he probably has everything he needs). Gates is busy changing the world for the better (even when he was head of MS), while Jobs is busy trying to infect people's minds to buy the iPad.
 
the-one1 said:
Good for him. Better than most people of his wealth status.
I don't think I can name another billionaire who has given that much away or if any.
He can give 10B away for 40 years (until he is dead) and he would still be rich.
Click to expand...

Didn't Warren Buffet give like 60 Billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?
 
tomiboy59 said:
Didn't Warren Buffet give like 60 Billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?
Click to expand...

Yes, Buffet wanted to give, but said you focus on what you know and he didn't know nearly as much as Gates so he entrusted Gates with 85% of his wealth to help people as Gates saw fit.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity1.fortune/

"Because the value of Buffett's gifts are tied to a future, unknowable price of Berkshire, there is no way to put a total dollar value on them. But the number of shares earmarked to be given have a huge value today: $37 billion.

That alone would be the largest philanthropic gift in history. And if Buffett is right in thinking that Berkshire's price will trend upward, the eventual amount given could far exceed that figure."
 
*didn't know nearly as much about charities, obviously not talking about in general
 
Good for Gates. People may hate MS and Gates, but Gates is actually a pretty damn good human being. If more people, did what he did the world would be a better place because there would be far more breakthroughs if the money was there to be used to expand research.

Problem is we live in a world of greed where people like Gates are few and far between. Last week during the Haiti telethon you didn't see any movie star stand up and say "I'll give $5 million" or "I'll match every donation I take tonight." Instead they answered phones while the rest of the tax payers donated money during our own economic crisis.

Hell even Donte Stallworth did more then most of them. He donated a few bucks for every Twitter follower he had by the end of a certain day. Then he got Wes Welker and another NFL player to match it. Michael Bay was using his private jet to shuttle doctors to Haiti and back. People like that make a difference in this world and it's great to see somebody like Gates spearhead it all because everybody knows who he is.
 
I strongly approve of the angle his foundation is taking on things -- rather than addressing short term problems they're going after huge ones that will have a lasting impact. Rather than someone being able to say "hey, 75 years ago a very rich man helped rebuild grandma's house" it is more likely that they'll say "your grandmother died of [disease] and it was horrible, but no one gets that anymore because of a very rich man." -- three cheers for lasting change!
 
I must agree. If only everyone could think about others, for the rich it's billions for those with far less it could just be $10 a month...
 
BloodyIron said:
If you think any amount of heavy metals in the body is acceptable, you should think again. I'm sure another method to prevent infections and fungal growth within the vials could be found.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they're working on it, thanks to fear mongers. But until then, we'll be ok.
 
HoppyChris said:
I strongly approve of the angle his foundation is taking on things -- rather than addressing short term problems they're going after huge ones that will have a lasting impact. Rather than someone being able to say "hey, 75 years ago a very rich man helped rebuild grandma's house" it is more likely that they'll say "your grandmother died of [disease] and it was horrible, but no one gets that anymore because of a very rich man." -- three cheers for lasting change!
Click to expand...

"but since we made grandma live much longer, her house fell around her ears and she had to put up with it because we kept her alive and not rebuild her house"

:D

I'm such an ass.
 
Man, thats a shitload of money going to a good cause. Cancer is another one he should (or may have) give to.
 
Dev1ant said:
Gates is busy changing the world for the better (even when he was head of MS), while Jobs is busy trying to infect people's minds to buy the iPad.
Click to expand...

lol... always a step ahead. Hes a good guy, and hes starting to look really old
 
Maybe a % of it will should go to birth control methods and education on aids and STD's and overpopulation etc for those countries as well


giving them bandaids is just going to make the issues they have worse and compound overpopulation, mother nature will win eventually if we don't all smarten up :)

but good for Bill nonetheless, hopefully its put to good use
 
Dev1ant said:
Gates is busy changing the world for the better (even when he was head of MS), while Jobs is busy trying to infect people's minds to buy the iPad.
Click to expand...
Jobs could very well be donating his fortunes anonymously (just like anyone could; just like Gates could). We can't say for certain.
 
phide said:
Jobs could very well be donating his fortunes anonymously (just like anyone could; just like Gates could). We can't say for certain.
Click to expand...

See: Curb Your Enthusiasm S06E2: Anonymous Donor. If Jobs was donating anonymously I bet it would have slipped out by now :p
 
Well, we can't go assuming that Steve Jobs is anything like Ted Danson ;)
 
fuck Steve Jobs

Bill Gates is a much better human being. Stories like this should appear in H more often. Bill Gates said he wants to give his wealth back to society when he dies. Hopefully his foundation lasts a very very long time and does great things for the world
 
BloodyIron said:
If you think any amount of heavy metals in the body is acceptable, you should think again. I'm sure another method to prevent infections and fungal growth within the vials could be found.
Click to expand...

I suppose you've never eaten a fish?
 
As heartwarming this gesture may be, giving $10 billion to save so many lives will in the long run generate much unintended suffering in impoverished nations.

This planet cannot sustain the 7 billion people we already have, let alone the 10 billion we are set to exceed during the second half of this century.
 
Solstice said:
As heartwarming this gesture may be, giving $10 billion to save so many lives will in the long run generate much unintended suffering in impoverished nations.

This planet cannot sustain the 7 billion people we already have, let alone the 10 billion we are set to exceed during the second half of this century.
Click to expand...

so...........you're saying we should let those people die and invest 10 billion in trying to effectively kill off a couple billion people?
 
Putz said:
Maybe a % of it will should go to birth control methods and education on aids and STD's and overpopulation etc for those countries as well


giving them bandaids is just going to make the issues they have worse and compound overpopulation, mother nature will win eventually if we don't all smarten up :)

but good for Bill nonetheless, hopefully its put to good use
Click to expand...

Solstice said:
As heartwarming this gesture may be, giving $10 billion to save so many lives will in the long run generate much unintended suffering in impoverished nations.

This planet cannot sustain the 7 billion people we already have, let alone the 10 billion we are set to exceed during the second half of this century.
Click to expand...

The population problem is a little overblown but the Gates Foundation is aware of it. In case you need to be a New Scientist subscriber to read the full text of last year's feature article (The Population Delusion), here's a quote:

Earlier this year the UK government's chief scientific adviser John Beddington predicted a population-led global crisis by 2030, and a group of influential billionaires including Bill Gates and George Soros identified overpopulation as the greatest threat facing humanity. Every time we publish an article in New Scientist detailing yet another of the planet's environmental woes, readers respond by arguing that the real problem is overpopulation.

The population statistics are indeed staggering. Yet the raw numbers hide a multitude of complexities. Look closely, and it becomes clear that the common-sense assumption that population is the root of all evil is simplistic.
Click to expand...
 
The first time I heard someone called Bill Gates a modern day Robin Hood I scoffed at the idea. However, hearing stuff like this makes me think back on that statement. Seems pretty accurate to me.
 
Between stuff like this and Bing cash back I feel great buying MS products. :)
 
I don't think Gates is like Robin Hood at all, only the giving to the poor part, maybe...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top