Bill’s Got Mo’Money

Forbe’s magazine has released their list of the world’s richest people. Mr. Gates was at the top of that list again. Not much of a surprise at this point, he’s won the competition for the past 12 years in a row. There’s plenty of people that probably can’t stand Bill Gates and how rich he is, but I don’t have a problem with it at all.

See, Bill’s large net worth doesn’t impact me at all, so why would I have a problem with it? Many would say that he’s rich because of overpriced software or bad business practices. I disagree again, there’s not a single thing sitting on any store’s shelf that forces me to buy it. So I say keep it up Bill, because along with being the richest man on the planet for the past 12 years, you’ve also been the most generous too!

Gates, 50, dropped out of Harvard University in 1977 to become the richest man in America in 1993 at the age of 37. At that point, he had $6.3 billion. In 1993, Microsoft was just beginning to hit its stride as the world’s number-one provider of software. When the company went public in 1986, 100 shares of its stock cost $2,100. By 1993, that investment was worth $77,850.

Hmmm, he hit the list for the first time before Microsoft even “hit its stride”.

Over the past several years, Gates has donated a sizeable chunk of his billions to charity. He and his wife, Melinda, got the ball rolling when the two created the richest charitable foundation in the U.S. with the merger of the William H. Gates Foundation, named after the elder Gates, and the Gates Learning Foundation, in 1999.

The newly created Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began with roughly $17.1 billion in its coffers, following a $6 billion donation from Gates — the largest such donation ever. The foundation’s fortune has increased to $29 billion and is responsible for many charitable works around the globe — from a $100 million HIV/AIDS initiative in Botswana to a $1.5 billion commitment to distribute vaccines to children in developing countries.

The other interesting thing is that there were 102 more people on the list this year than there were last. Seems like more people are learning how to make and save more while spending less. That my friends is the key.

Source: Bill Gates: Richest Man on Earth Once Again
Source: Bill Gates’ generosity