Ted Turner, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Andrew Carnegie
The big news is that Warren Buffett has decided to give away most of his wealth. And the manner in which he has chosen to do that is big news as well.
Warren understands that setting up and running a foundation is complicated. Foundations are businesses themselves, with products and sales-forces, as well as huge internal bureaucracies. Warren has never been into that. He’s a visionary, a gambler, a man of intense perception and focus, but definitely not a nuts and bolts guy. Picking winners has been his talent rather than building businesses or foundations.
Melinda Gates has already done that, got the T-shirt and now Bill’s getting into the action as well, as he gradually steps out of the day-to-day at Microsoft.
A perfect fit for Buffett. An organization up and (efficiently) running, social goals that are supportive to his own and the only people richer than himself on the planet running the show, people who have no financial motive to cook the books or feather-bed their administrators.
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