Gates is giving away his fortune with the same gusto he spent acquiring it, throwing billions of dollars at solving global health problems. He has also spoken out on major policy issues, for example, by opposing proposals to cut back the inheritance tax.
In contrast, Jobs does not appear on any charitable contribution lists of note. And Jobs has said nary a word on behalf of important social issues, reserving his talents of persuasion for selling Apple products.
According to Forbes, Jobs was recently worth $3.3 billion which puts him among the 194th richest in the world, and makes him the 67th richest American. But the standings were shuffled on Tuesday with Disney's $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar Animation -- a deal that makes Jobs' Pixar holdings alone worth some $3.7 billion.
But great wealth does not make a great man. Giving USA Foundation, a philanthropy research group which publishes an annual charity survey, said Jobs does not appear on lists of gifts of $5 million or more over the last four years. Nor is his name on a list of gifts of $1 million or more compiled by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy.
Jobs' wife is also absent from these philanthropic lists, although she has made dozens of political donations totaling tens of thousands of dollars to the Democrats, according to the Open Secrets database.
I also heard Steve Jobs drives a Mercedes and doesn't have a license plate, and parks in handi-capped spots.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Apparently Steve Jobs lives a few minutes away from me in Palo Alto, and my friend knows which house is his. I think I might try swinging by his place to sell boyscout cookies or something just to see what happens.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
I don't have any boy scout cookies, so I might just go grab some from Safeway. Either that or I'll try and get his bottles and say its a bottle drive. See if he recycles too.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
From his simple clothing — almost always a black turtleneck and pair of blue jeans — to his clean-cut computer designs, Jobs exudes minimalism. This commitment to sparsity apparently extends to the computer mogul's charitable giving, which, unless Jobs is shelling out the dough behind closed doors, amounts to roughly zero dollars. That's right — Steve Jobs, worth $5.1 billion, has no public record of philanthropy.
Well, almost no record. There was that one time, way back in 1987, when Jobs decided on a whim to launch the Steven P. Jobs Foundation. "But the Jobs foundation never did much of anything," writes Peter Elkind at Fortune, "besides hiring famed graphic designer Paul Rand to design its logo." Just fifteen months later, the ill-fated foundation shut its doors for good.
It's high time the minimalist CEO became a magnanimous philanthropist. As the 43rd richest person in the United States, Jobs is a prime target for Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's "Giving Pledge," which asks billionaires from coast to coast to donate 50 percent of their wealth to charity.
Jobs may be out of touch with making big donations, but what better time to start giving than the present, especially with 40 million poor Americans struggling to make ends meet? Tell Steve Jobs to make up for lost time and join the "Giving Pledge" today.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Steve Jobs has already given humanity the greatest gift he can - a glimpse, a tiny, imperfect, almost embryonic insight into his personal technology aesthetic. A single photon of illuminated design, if you will, in a universe of dark matter.
All that is left is for him to ascend in a fiery chariot and claim his rightful place in the pantheon.
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-Scott
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Has anyone here ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? This idea that because Jobs is so wealthy, he should be giving away half of his fortune kind of reminds me of that book.
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Not that I really give a crap, nor is it really anyone's business what charities he donates too. I would however assume his liver transplant somehow would qualify him for handicap spots for some period of time. Having your largest internal organ replaced could be considered somewhat invasive and at least partially debilitating.
Steve Jobs has already given humanity the greatest gift he can - a glimpse, a tiny, imperfect, almost embryonic insight into his personal technology aesthetic. A single photon of illuminated design, if you will, in a universe of dark matter.
All that is left is for him to ascend in a fiery chariot and claim his rightful place in the pantheon.
I can only hope that when he tried to cross the River Styx, the ferryman refuses to accept his iMoney.
I'm hardly a fan of Jobs or even apple, but if I were in his position, I would 100% be donating anonymously. I would donate anonymously right now if I had the cash.
I'm a very private person, and frankly I'd want to keep as much of my life out of the public's eye as I can.
I'm hardly a fan of Jobs or even apple, but if I were in his position, I would 100% be donating anonymously. I would donate anonymously right now if I had the cash.
I'm a very private person, and frankly I'd want to keep as much of my life out of the public's eye as I can.
Would a private person say they are private would they remain private about being private?
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Microsoft vs Apple, Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs
