Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The $37B gift



…and Warren Buffet, the world’s second richest man, gives it away.

The complete article can be read here. Five foundations will benefit from the gift, the bulk of which goes to the Gates Foundation.

What a HUGE amount! But it seems so logical to him. He just wants to give it back to society. The amount is 85% of his worth today, and he says he’s given his children more than enough already.

I wonder what to do with the money if given the chance to run the beneficiary foundation. So here’s my partial list of priority projects:

1. Education and literacy projects for Africa and South East Asia – $8B ($2B for RP)
2. Global Health Projects including Stem Cell Research – $8B
3. Establishment of a medical research foundation in Asia - $2B
4. Agricultural Development for Africa and South East Asia - $5B
5. Poverty alleviation projects for Africa and South East Asia - $5B ($2B for RP)

I won’t mind spending a life-time working on these projects, and not just issuing checks to grantees. But for now, it’s just my dream. If I were Mr. Buffet, I'd quit Berkshire Hathaway and concentrate on running my foundation. Just like Mr. Gates did.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” – The Prophet

4 comments:

Abaniko said...

I wish the other rich people will follow in the footsteps of this kind-hearted guy. BTW, that quote by Gibran is also one of my favorites.

pauL said...

hi... upto now im puzzled whether you are my classmate or not... tsk tsk... i have a classmate named Lazarus... ren is that you?

anyways, same here... loved the book "the prophet".. it's in my fav. books list...

God bless!

Lazarus said...

Abaniko - the rich are getting richer. The poor, much poorer. If we only learn how to give.

RalphT - the amount can surely pay a large chunk of our national debt. Pero baka naman maibulsa lang sa powerful few.

Paul - your classmate and I are two different persons. Thanks for dropping by.

Iskoo said...

looks like you have a big heart for beneficiary foundations, what a noble desire to help! worth emulating.