A close example is Warren Buffett. He’s about as ethical as they come IMO. He still lives in the same house he bought over 60 years ago, and he has given away a ton of money:
As of June 2025, Buffett had donated over $60 billion to charitable causes.
Hearing him talk about it, it’s apparently really hard to give away that amount of money. He wants to give away something like 99% of his money, but he seems to really like his job and that takes priority for him. He has claimed his children are tasked w/ giving the rest away within 10 years of his passing, outside of the little he has marked for inheritance.
So I’m nowhere near a billionaire and it’s perhaps worthless to compare - but once many orgs know you are a “source of charitable donations” they spend a LOT of spam your way - and chances are good that at least half of the charities are scams that barely help anyone. So there’s likely also an unwelcome degree of effort and anxiety in ensuring charity money is used well. Hence why Bill Gates started his own.
Yup, there are a lot of bad charities, and the good ones often can’t handle billions in donations. And doing that takes time away from things you enjoy. There’s a reason he didn’t step away from his position until his 90s, he likes what he does.
I was going to say that sounds great and we won’t eat him. Then I opened the link and saw that he’s giving his money to the Bill & Malinda Gates Foundation and is conditional on Bill and Milenda Gates still being alive and involved. Why do his charitable donations have to go to a different Billionaire?
It’s a fantastic charity, and it funds a lot of other great charities. I’m very much not a fan of Bill Gates’ career (I’m a diehard Linux user), but his charitable endeavors and recommended book lists are fantastic.
I don’t care if the person running a charity is a billionaire, I care that they do a good job. He has made philanthropy his life’s mission, and that’s exactly the kind of person I want backing a charity.
A close example is Warren Buffett. He’s about as ethical as they come IMO. He still lives in the same house he bought over 60 years ago, and he has given away a ton of money:
Hearing him talk about it, it’s apparently really hard to give away that amount of money. He wants to give away something like 99% of his money, but he seems to really like his job and that takes priority for him. He has claimed his children are tasked w/ giving the rest away within 10 years of his passing, outside of the little he has marked for inheritance.
So I’m nowhere near a billionaire and it’s perhaps worthless to compare - but once many orgs know you are a “source of charitable donations” they spend a LOT of spam your way - and chances are good that at least half of the charities are scams that barely help anyone. So there’s likely also an unwelcome degree of effort and anxiety in ensuring charity money is used well. Hence why Bill Gates started his own.
Yup, there are a lot of bad charities, and the good ones often can’t handle billions in donations. And doing that takes time away from things you enjoy. There’s a reason he didn’t step away from his position until his 90s, he likes what he does.
I was going to say that sounds great and we won’t eat him. Then I opened the link and saw that he’s giving his money to the Bill & Malinda Gates Foundation and is conditional on Bill and Milenda Gates still being alive and involved. Why do his charitable donations have to go to a different Billionaire?
It’s a fantastic charity, and it funds a lot of other great charities. I’m very much not a fan of Bill Gates’ career (I’m a diehard Linux user), but his charitable endeavors and recommended book lists are fantastic.
I don’t care if the person running a charity is a billionaire, I care that they do a good job. He has made philanthropy his life’s mission, and that’s exactly the kind of person I want backing a charity.