Bill Gates: The Philanthropist

On June 27, 2008, Bill Gates stepped down as Chairman of Microsoft Corporation to concentrate full-time on his philanthropic work. As of February 8, 2008, Gates was declared the third wealthiest man on earth. Bill and his wife of fourteen years, Melinda, founded their own charity in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates’ also support Children’s Vaccine Foundation, Earth Institute, Food Bank for New York City and The Lunchbox Fund.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s opening statement is that “our belief that every life has equal value is at the core of our work at the foundation.” This foundation merged with the Gates Learning Foundation in 2000. The goal of this merger is to increase efficiency and communication between four main initiatives. Those initiatives are Global Health, Education, Libraries and Pacific Northwest. The Gates’ are very focused and involved in this foundation and spotlight majority of their attention on children and their education and health. In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reorganized their initiatives into three new programs: Global Development, Global Health, and United States.

Bill Gates does not only want the United States to know about his philanthropic work, but the world too. Earlier this year in Davos, Switzerland, Gates spoke at the World Economic Forum and addressed several problem areas that are in dire need to be adjusted and fixed. After watching and listening to his speech from the World Economic Forum posted on Youtube.com, I truly believe Bill Gates is passionate about his philanthropic work with his foundation and the other foundations and charities he is involved with. His speech was about “creative capitalism,” and was directed toward encouraging international and government leaders to “stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities.”

Apparently there is more to Bill Gates than money; he actually has a heart. He is more than willing to donate his time, effort and money to help other children and families, other than his own, around the whole world. His selflessness proves that there are actually people living in today’s society who are not consumed by greed. These people care about helping others and not just about their new car and multi-million dollar house in Beverly Hills. I believe Gates wants to help further the education of children around the world because he knows what can be accomplished from coming from having nothing. I, personally, have donated to his foundation as a way of contributing to the well-being of less fortunate children around the world.

Bill Gates has built a billion dollar empire that keeps going and growing every day. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has also been built into a billion dollar foundation thanks to the brilliance and wisdom of Bill Gates himself. His philanthropic works have made an enormous effect on the world today, and will keep leaving its footprints as time goes on.