Warren Buffet pledges 99% of his wealth to charity - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

User Name · 06-17-2010, 04:20 PM

Hopefully this isn't a fata, but pretty sweet none the less. Although the remaining 1% should leave him with something around $500,000,000, which still isn't too shabby.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/15/news...etter.fortune/

anyonebutedmonton · 06-17-2010, 04:27 PM

What I wouldn't give for an hour to sit and chat with him... I like how he explains his idea behind donating amount. A good read for sure.

Prototype · 06-17-2010, 04:31 PM

I'd be pissed if I were in his will.

Starfishy · 06-17-2010, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prototype

I'd be pissed if I were in his will.

Yeah, me too. Who wouldn't get pissed at getting a slice of a $500,000,000 pie?

DownInFlames · 06-17-2010, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

What I wouldn't give for an hour to sit and chat with him...

Got 2.63 Million?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_611404.html

Devils'Advocate · 06-17-2010, 04:56 PM

Didn't he say that was what he was going to do 3 years ago?

He said he was leaving his kids just enough to be comfortable, but still need to work. I saw him in an interview with Bill Gates. Warren said that he raised his kids as any normal family... they didn't live lives of complete luxury. To which Bill said he could attest to since the wooden chairs at Warren's place didn't even have seat cushions and hurt your butt after a half hour....

Edit: Okay, I read the link now.. it was FOUR years ago he made the pledge.

I don't like this. Not one bit. Wealth distribution is wrong and giving money to the poor only enables them to be lazy. People will be less likely to want to have the drive to innovate and motive to work hard if they are going to be asked to give up 50% of their estate. Buffett is an evil, evil man.

Shazam · 06-17-2010, 05:04 PM

Fataing cheapskate.

BurningYears · 06-17-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Didn't he say that was what he was going to do 3 years ago?

He said he was leaving his kids just enough to be comfortable, but still need to work. I saw him in an interview with Bill Gates. Warren said that he raised his kids as any normal family... they didn't live lives of complete luxury. To which Bill said he could attest to since the wooden chairs at Warren's place didn't even have seat cushions and hurt your butt after a half hour....

Edit: Okay, I read the link now.. it was FOUR years ago he made the pledge.

I don't like this. Not one bit. Wealth distribution is wrong and giving money to the poor only enables them to be lazy. People will be less likely to want to have the drive to innovate and motive to work hard if they are going to be asked to give up 50% of their estate. Buffett is an evil, evil man.

I agree to a point about this, but by the sounds of it he isnt cutting every poor person in the world a cheque. if someone is in need of help and go to proper channel i have no problem with charity.

Quote:

Millions of people who regularly contribute to churches, schools, and other organizations thereby relinquish the use of funds that would otherwise benefit their own families. The dollars these people drop into a collection plate or give to United Way mean forgone movies, dinners out, or other personal pleasures. In contrast, my family and I will give up nothing we need or want by fulfilling this 99% pledge.

I approve of this.

RobotTalk · 06-17-2010, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

.
I don't like this. Not one bit. Wealth distribution is wrong and giving money to the poor only enables them to be lazy. People will be less likely to want to have the drive to innovate and motive to work hard if they are going to be asked to give up 50% of their estate. Buffett is an evil, evil man.

Your kidding right? I guess your unfamiliar with the so called working poor? What about those folks who work hard every night to clean your office for just above minimum wage? Are they lazy? Sure some people abuse the system, but the vast majority of those who are poor work hard to just get by. What wrong with giving them a helping hand, is it really going to hurt a billionaire?

But hey people are poor because they choose to be lazy, if they wanted to they could just pull themselves out of poverty by their bootstraps right?

Mazrim · 06-17-2010, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Didn't he say that was what he was going to do 3 years ago?

The very first sentence of the article states: "In 2006, I made a commitment to gradually give all of my Berkshire Hathaway stock to philanthropic foundations."

Thor · 06-17-2010, 05:45 PM

Great news!

Antithesis · 06-17-2010, 05:51 PM

Come on people, look at his username: Devil's Advocate.

Regorium · 06-17-2010, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I don't like this. Not one bit. Wealth distribution is wrong and giving money to the poor only enables them to be lazy. People will be less likely to want to have the drive to innovate and motive to work hard if they are going to be asked to give up 50% of their estate. Buffett is an evil, evil man.

Well, this would only be true if he was giving all of his money to welfare.

He is giving his money to charities, who hopefully will put it towards good causes, like cancer/disease research, building schools and homes in impoverished countries. Maybe treatment facilities like those injection clinics or shelters.

If people need help and not free money, then they should be able to get it. His generous offer helps this cause.

Reggie Dunlop · 06-18-2010, 12:54 AM

Dude was in Calgary a few days ago scarfing $15 burgers at Laurier Lounge.

Phanuthier · 06-18-2010, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regorium

Well, this would only be true if he was giving all of his money to welfare.

He is giving his money to charities, who hopefully will put it towards good causes, like cancer/disease research, building schools and homes in impoverished countries. Maybe treatment facilities like those injection clinics or shelters.

If people need help and not free money, then they should be able to get it. His generous offer helps this cause.

If I understand correctly (glimsed the article, but know a bit about it from a talk he gave a few years ago)... the B&B Gates foundation is geared towards 3rd world community development and such. Buffet is a great man.

Phanuthier · 06-18-2010, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

What I wouldn't give for an hour to sit and chat with him... I like how he explains his idea behind donating amount. A good read for sure.

There are a lot of good books on him you can always read. Buffet is actually a very simple man, even his investing strategies are simple. There's no crazy macroeconomics and predicting the future and graphs and market trends guessing the price of oil and whatnot.

Huntingwhale · 06-18-2010, 01:26 AM

troutman · 06-18-2010, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I don't like this. Not one bit. Wealth distribution is wrong and giving money to the poor only enables them to be lazy. People will be less likely to want to have the drive to innovate and motive to work hard if they are going to be asked to give up 50% of their estate. Buffett is an evil, evil man.

I don't think there are bigger wastes of skin then children living off old money.

GreenLantern · 06-18-2010, 09:00 AM

Read between the lines, 99% of his wealth through dollars.

That means there will be a large amount of ASSETS passed along in his will... I can only imagine how much of his wealth is tied up in assets.

The Yen Man · 06-18-2010, 09:15 AM

How much assets would he really have though? Isn't he still living in the same house he had back in the 60's? I heard it's just some normal house in the suburbs that's 2,000 sq ft. He's got the private jet mentioned in the article. Does he have anything else significant? I would think the majority of his wealth are the Berkshire Hathaway stocks.