Probably everyone reading this has already read it somewhere else.
Warren Buffet is preparing to give away more money than anyone else in history has ever given.
And I bet it won’t affect his lifestyle one bit. [End of Post]
5 Responses to Big Money
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What’s your point in that last line? Are you arguing that it should it affect his lifestyle?
Nah. I’m just playing with the idea that a private person can give away thirty billion dollars without really noticing. Like, wow.
I have two comments on this great gift by Warren Buffet.
First, Buffet isn’t giving away his fortune this year. Or next. According to how I read this, he’s giving away a small portion each year. He’ll only give the reported number (reported differently by different sources) if he lives another 20 years and doesn’t change his mind in the meantime. Since he’s getting on in years, and has already changed his mind about what to do with his fortune, he’ll likely continue to be the world’s second richest man for many years, possibly for the rest of his life.
Second, wealth is about control. It doesn’t matter whose name wealth is in so much as who makes the decision on how that wealth is spent. In that light, consider that Buffet is now joining Bill and Melinda Gates in controlling the Foundation money. In a way, he’s become that much wealthier.
I found the cbs2chicago.com article amusing and interesting. It can’t be chance that they chose to focus on a scholarship recipient named Michael Jackson. I hope this guy is no relation to freak-show Michael Jackson. I notice that this student will get (according to the article) $45K/year. They don’t say what his qualifications are. Is this needs-based? Did he ace one or more standardized tests? The quote from him doesn’t sound as intelligent as many who don’t get this kind of gift.
Hmm. I’m not sure that being in control of a charity is in the same ball park as being in control of your own money. He can’t buy a company with it, or a house, or senator.
As far as the kid, I don’t know the details, but that article in Chicago says that he excelled academically and athletically, but couldn’t afford college.
Mr. Buffet will still have plenty of wealth (tens of billions) for many years, for such things as buying companies and senators. And don’t think a foundation with tens of billions at its disposal is unable to buy companies and senators—that’s well within their realm. I don’t think buying a house is even on the list. The most expensive homes go for a few millions, a drop in his bucket.
Many students can be said to “excel academically”, but what does this really mean? Maybe he’s kept a high GPA in a grade-inflated school, or maybe he aced standardized tests—the articles I found didn’t say. In any case, there must be *plenty* of students getting these scholarships if they’re a significant part of the foundation’s giveaways. The fact that the media chose one with a famous name strikes me as an unlikely coincidence. I also wonder—if the scholarship were enough for a good state school instead of being enough for a private college, they’d be able to provide many more, thus helping a lot more students. Is it better to help one very poor person get into Harvard, or to help ten get into University of Yourstate?
As long as the trough’s open, I want my dip.