adios
07-21-2004, 05:24 AM
Bill Gates does have ML talent. I don't think he's developed it a great deal through formal education but he may have employed it quite a bit in the rise of MSFT. Don't know for sure but probably is my guess.
Gates to Donate
Dividend Windfall
To His Foundation
By ROBERT FRANK and ANN GRIMES
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 21, 2004; Page A8
Only Bill Gates could call $3 billion a drop in the bucket.
Mr. Gates announced yesterday that he is giving a projected $3.35 billion windfall from MicrosoftCorp.'s one-time $3-a-share dividend to his private foundation. (See related article.) But not right away. Indeed, a spokesman for the Microsoft chairman indicated that the large dividend will be paid out to the foundation over an unspecified period of time. Joe Cerrell, a Gates family spokesman, declined to say what Mr. Gates would do with the cash in the meantime.
While the pledge would be one of the largest cash donations ever by a living individual to a private foundation, it represents less than 13% of the foundation's total assets of $26.5 billion. The funds also represent a fraction of Mr. Gates's total personal wealth. His Microsoft stake alone is valued at more than $31.63 billion, based on his ownership of about 1.12 billion shares and the company's stock price of $28.32 in 4 p.m. Nasdaq Stock Market trading yesterday.
"It's certainly of one of the largest donations we've seen in the U.S.," says Ed Lok, a managing director with the Citigroup Private Bank in San Francisco, who helps the bank set up family foundations for high net-worth families.
The only other gifts that come close -- outside Gates's other stock pledges to his foundation -- are burger-heiress Joan Kroc's recent bequest of $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army and cable-mogul Ted Turner's $1 billion gift to the United Nations several years ago.
Fueled by Mr. Gates's Microsoft stock, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has ballooned into the largest grant-making foundation in the country, surpassing the number-two ranked Lilly Endowment, with $10.8 billion, and the Ford Foundation with $10 billion.
Under federal rules, foundations must give away at least 5% of their endowments to programs and activities. For the Gates foundation, that would come to about $1.33 billion in 2004, based on the foundation's current assets.
In a statement yesterday, Mr. Gates said the money, once given to the foundation, will be used to promote the foundation's goals of "improving equity in health, education and access to information and human services for vulnerable families."
The foundation has recently gained attention for its huge contributions to the fight against AIDS. The foundation made two big grants at the recent AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand, including an additional $50 million (on top of earlier $100 million donation) to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. The foundation is also a major force behind the AIDS vaccine "enterprise" -- an attempt to coordinate the vaccine work of researchers around the world.
"While our family foundation is making progress, there remain so many urgent needs and challenges that we must address together as a society," said Melinda Gates, Bill Gates's wife and the co-founder of the foundation.
The foundation, based in Seattle, received about $25 billion from Mr. Gates between 1994 and 2001, according to a spokesman for Mr. Gates. Those donations were made in the form of stock that was sold by the foundation upon receipt.
In addition to the publicity from his donation, Mr. Gates is likely to enjoy a tax benefit, experts say. In general, the deduction on charitable contributions made to a private foundation is limited to 30% of an individual's adjusted gross income if they are made in the form of cash, and 20% if the donation is made in the form of securities, according to Jeff Saccacio, director of West Coast Trust and Estate Services at Citigroup Private Bank.
Gates to Donate
Dividend Windfall
To His Foundation
By ROBERT FRANK and ANN GRIMES
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 21, 2004; Page A8
Only Bill Gates could call $3 billion a drop in the bucket.
Mr. Gates announced yesterday that he is giving a projected $3.35 billion windfall from MicrosoftCorp.'s one-time $3-a-share dividend to his private foundation. (See related article.) But not right away. Indeed, a spokesman for the Microsoft chairman indicated that the large dividend will be paid out to the foundation over an unspecified period of time. Joe Cerrell, a Gates family spokesman, declined to say what Mr. Gates would do with the cash in the meantime.
While the pledge would be one of the largest cash donations ever by a living individual to a private foundation, it represents less than 13% of the foundation's total assets of $26.5 billion. The funds also represent a fraction of Mr. Gates's total personal wealth. His Microsoft stake alone is valued at more than $31.63 billion, based on his ownership of about 1.12 billion shares and the company's stock price of $28.32 in 4 p.m. Nasdaq Stock Market trading yesterday.
"It's certainly of one of the largest donations we've seen in the U.S.," says Ed Lok, a managing director with the Citigroup Private Bank in San Francisco, who helps the bank set up family foundations for high net-worth families.
The only other gifts that come close -- outside Gates's other stock pledges to his foundation -- are burger-heiress Joan Kroc's recent bequest of $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army and cable-mogul Ted Turner's $1 billion gift to the United Nations several years ago.
Fueled by Mr. Gates's Microsoft stock, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has ballooned into the largest grant-making foundation in the country, surpassing the number-two ranked Lilly Endowment, with $10.8 billion, and the Ford Foundation with $10 billion.
Under federal rules, foundations must give away at least 5% of their endowments to programs and activities. For the Gates foundation, that would come to about $1.33 billion in 2004, based on the foundation's current assets.
In a statement yesterday, Mr. Gates said the money, once given to the foundation, will be used to promote the foundation's goals of "improving equity in health, education and access to information and human services for vulnerable families."
The foundation has recently gained attention for its huge contributions to the fight against AIDS. The foundation made two big grants at the recent AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand, including an additional $50 million (on top of earlier $100 million donation) to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. The foundation is also a major force behind the AIDS vaccine "enterprise" -- an attempt to coordinate the vaccine work of researchers around the world.
"While our family foundation is making progress, there remain so many urgent needs and challenges that we must address together as a society," said Melinda Gates, Bill Gates's wife and the co-founder of the foundation.
The foundation, based in Seattle, received about $25 billion from Mr. Gates between 1994 and 2001, according to a spokesman for Mr. Gates. Those donations were made in the form of stock that was sold by the foundation upon receipt.
In addition to the publicity from his donation, Mr. Gates is likely to enjoy a tax benefit, experts say. In general, the deduction on charitable contributions made to a private foundation is limited to 30% of an individual's adjusted gross income if they are made in the form of cash, and 20% if the donation is made in the form of securities, according to Jeff Saccacio, director of West Coast Trust and Estate Services at Citigroup Private Bank.