Sad times for Bill Gates

have heard exactly the same from people who would know.

--Dan

 

i agree...huge boost in sales to come....

 

Makes you wonder, I am very good friends with a family who own multiple produce and fruit distribution companies. There are 8 main guys in the office, every morning starting at about 8 AM they make about 2 hours worth of phone calls then play poker for about 3 or 4 hours. And it's not minimum poker either, they deal hands of $1000-2000 at the least and with similar buy-in's..

I also know a family that is in dental, through passing downs they operate a large dental company. But my friend's dad who is in charge right now, his assistant already has open ESPN.com every morning before he gets in and he leaves a couple hours later..

 

Not necessarily true. Bill told the press he wouldn't be pressured into giving money to the UN because another billionaire had donated an insane amount of money to them for use against sanctions, purchases, and other general business dealings. Gates had been giving his money away the entire time, but let everyone know he wouldn't allow the public interests to dictate where his donations would go to.

 

Funny, those condo developments are going nowhere. They've been pushing around dirt for 9 months. I don't think its even broken ground for the foundation yet, while another condo complex right down the street is well on its way.

Its a well known "rumor" (I won't claim it as fact... ) that Trump started his condo there with a bunch of friends who got in at bottom dollar and wanted to flip the condos for a minimum of $100k a piece, some flipping for much more. Apparently not enough people bit and the friends of Trump won't pony up the cash, so until the properties flip, that condo establishment isn't going anywhere.

 

Absolutely. I used to hear & read negative things that were said about him, probably baseless most of the time, but from what I've seen, none of it is deserved. The guy is extremely generous and has done so much good with his money.

 

Question of timing apparently. He's said that almost all of his assets will fund his foundation at his death.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/07/29/obituary1019EDT0068.DTL

 

Are you lauding Gates or criticizing Buffett? Maybe Gates has more to make up for in his own mind, given all the lawsuits Microsoft has had to endure about unfair competitive practices, hence the pre-death donations to compensate with some positive PR during his life. Also, if you follow Buffett you know that he's averse to cashing out investments "too soon", since he believes in compounding for as long as possible.

 

Rockefeller gave plenty back to his community. Some of the biggest libraries and other institutions were funded by him.

 

Actually we may have Buffett to thank for that. The story goes that Gates was either of a conventional mind or hadn't thought much about it yet. In the meantime, Buffett had long formulated his belief that it was unhealthy and unwise to give BIG money to his heirs and had determined long since that he would be funding a foundation with the bulk of his fortune. His children would have trust funds, but just enough that they could be "comfortable" but not "stupid/crazy". Then Buffett and Gates became friends due to their leadership positions in the corporate world and Buffett convinced Gates of the same beliefs, whence Gates formulated his current plans.

 

Is that really so bad? If I took a step in the direction of incredible risk and went through turmoil for half of my life, I wouldn't mind if my great great grandchildren were set for life.

His entire life was devoted to his family never having to worry about living under a bridge.

 

Being someone that descends from what you describe, I can assure you its not necessarily a given as to what you describe. It lies with the previous generation and if that generation doesn't put the foot down, its their fault for not being stern in an upbringing and it will spoil the children. So long as there is discipline, its fine. I'd much rather have my kids worrying about issues that every other kid worries about, rather than how they will get through life with no money. Its one less thing for someone to stress about these days, and is becoming a common thing and not necessarily as much of an advantage.

 

I agree.

Thats why trustfunds to finance scholarship are a wiser option

I dont agree with handing it to someone at birth, but at 30, when they've accomplished something, why not?

 

Haha, thats the rule against perpetuities. You can't do much for the people you dont know.

 

I don't like Microsoft but Bill Gates isn't such a bad guy ... he could probably take over the whole world if he wanted to, purchase an island, build a secret lair, and develop nuclear weapons or something out of a James Bond movie.

I do think it was a lot of luck and timing that got him started though. I'm a programmer, maybe if I were born at the same time as him I could be worth several billion...

 

At all times in life, there is opportunity. Irrespective of industry or world order, there will always be a chance to do something. Making excuses "if I were born x years ago" is useless. You say that only because you have seen what happened over the course of that period of time.

Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. You think Gates, or Andreesen, or Fred Smith, Buffett, Sonsini, Krasner and Ellison, Jobs and Kravis - do you think any of them knew what the world would look like when they started? Absolutely not.

The key is to think forward and just do. Now may be one of the greatest times of economic opportunity we've ever seen. What are you doing about it?

--Dan