Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and the world’s richest men are giving half their fortunes to charity – but there is a downside, says William Langley.
The biggest whip-round in history began on a relatively low-key note, when Bill Gates, generally reckoned to be the world’s richest man, suggested that his best pal Warren Buffett, the third-richest, should telephone all the other billionaires they knew, asking them to give away half their fortunes to charity.
By last week, Warren, having diligently worked his way through the annual Forbes magazine list of the richest Americans, had signed up at least 40 fellow plutocrats, with a combined worth of close to £150 billion. Portraying his work as “an easy sell”, the avuncular Buffett, long revered as the world’s greatest investor, predicted that many more would agree to chip in. Few of his primary targets, he said, had needed to be asked twice.
Yet a number of tough questions hang over the future of this colossal kitty. How will it be spent? Will it do any good? And might something other than pure-hearted philanthropy explain the apparent ease with which it was amassed?
Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/7932127/The-billionaire-boys-Beware-of-geeks-bearing-gifts.html
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