Bill Gates Surrenders “Wealthiest” Rank to Charity!

By John B. Monteiro
Bellevision Media Network

• “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” – 1 Corinthians XIII 1 (New Testament of the Bible).

 

14 Mar 2012: When Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s top billionaires was published on March 2, 2012, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim remained the richest person in the world, followed by Microsoft found.

 

The following list of world’s richest ten billionaires also contains two  Indians. 

Name	Net Worth	Age	Source	Country of Citizenship
1 Carlos Slim Helu & family	$74 B	72	telecom	Mexico
2 Bill Gates	$56 B	56	Microsoft	United States
3 Warren Buffett	$50 B	81	Berkshire Hathaway	United States
4 Bernard Arnault	$41 B	63	LVMH	France
5 Larry Ellison	$39.5 B	67	Oracle	United States
6 Lakshmi Mittal	$31.1 B	61	Steel	India
7 Amancio Ortega	$31 B	75	Zara	Spain
8 Eike Batista	$30 B	55	Mining, oil	Brazil
9 Mukesh Ambani	$27 B	54	Petrochemicals, oil & gas	India
10 Christy Walton & family	$26.5 B	57	Walmart

 

Bill Gates, who held the wealthiest rank for many years, has lost his position due to large scale philanthropy he has been indulging in over the past few years. Perhaps he finds charity, mainly in the fields of healthcare and education, better than flaunting accumulated wealth and the top ranking in the list of the world’s rich. The background to this is provided in a report by Reuters, on the eve of the release of the list last year, under the title “Bill Gates’ philanthropy costs him richest-man title”.

 

Some excerpts:

Bill Gates didn’t lose his title as the world’s richest man last year; he gave it away by plowing billions into his charitable foundation, experts say. But it would be no contest if Microsoft co-founder Gates had not already given away more than a third of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on global health and development and US education. His foundation was deeply involved in the campaign for polio eradication India – which has now been declared polio-free. “It wouldn’t be a competition,” said David Lincoln, director of global valuations at wealth research firm Wealth-X. “(Gates) would have a comfortable margin if he had never discovered philanthropy.” But had Gates not given away any money, he would be worth $88 billion, Lincoln said. Gates and his wife Melinda have so far given $28 billion to their foundation, the largest in the United States.

 

Gates and his wife Melinda

 

Forbes’ 2010 billionaires list put Gates fortune at $53 billion, but he was knocked into second spot by Slim’s $53.5 billion, losing the crown for only the second time since 1995. Slim has said that businessmen do more good by creating jobs and wealth through investment, “not by being Santa Claus,” and while he has pledged several billion dollars to charity, his efforts have been a fraction of Gates philanthropy.

 

Buffet, who Forbes ranked as the third richest man world has also pledged almost all of his fortune to the Gates Foundation and has given $8 billion to the organization since 2006. Gates and Buffet have joined forces to encourage other billionaires to publicly pledge to give away at least 50% of their wealth during their lifetimes or upon their death as part of a campaign called The Living Pledge.

 

Glen Macdonald, the president of the Wealth and Giving Forum, said Gate’s philanthropy had influenced the way other rich people in the United States approach their own philanthropy. “Encouraging people and leading by example – there’s no question that’s going to have influence on people’s giving patterns,” said Macdonald. “They are going to give sooner and they are going to give in greater amounts.” So far 59 billionaires have joined.

 

John B. Monteiro, author and journalist, is editor of his website www.welcometoreason.com (Interactive Cerebral Challenger) – with provision for instant response. Try responding!