this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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Bill Gates to give away 99% of his wealth in the next 20 years (www.gatesnotes.com)
submitted 1 day ago by 1984@lemmy.today to c/technology@lemmy.world
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One of the best things I read was an 1889 essay by Andrew Carnegie called The Gospel of Wealth. It makes the case that the wealthy have a responsibility to return their resources to society, a radical idea at the time that laid the groundwork for philanthropy as we know it today.

In the essay’s most famous line, Carnegie argues that “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” I have spent a lot of time thinking about that quote lately. People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that "he died rich" will not be one of them.

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[–] Libra@lemmy.ml 25 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

but I am determined that “he died rich” will not be one of them.

Bill Gates has a net worth of ~$168 billion. Even if this isn't just PR intended to launder his image, even if he does in fact give away 99% of that, it will still leave him with $1.68 billion dollars. Even if he ups that to 99.99% that'll still leave him with $16.8 million, which is still rich by anyone's measure. Bill Gates' idea of 'not dying rich' is radically different than yours or mine; he was never not going to die rich.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

That’s true, but to be fair, if he pulls it off it will be one hell of an example to set.

[–] Libra@lemmy.ml 9 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (2 children)

If your standard for 'a good example' is being a bit more creative with his tax-dodging PR stunts than other billionaires, that's a pretty low bar. A better example to set would be to not exploit people to accumulate wealth in the first place. It takes a whole lot of people like you and me staying poor to make Bill Gates that rich.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 points 2 hours ago

A better example to set would be to not exploit people to accumulate wealth in the first place.

I do that everyday. Everyone feel free to thank me.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

That’s true. I just appreciate that he seems to do a bit more than Musk to at least keep the appearance of giving back. This still doesn’t get him off the guillotine list.

[–] Libra@lemmy.ml 2 points 18 hours ago

I don't appreciate that one oligarch is better at lying to us than another one, that kinda makes it worse in my mind. Instead of telling ourselves comforting stories about how generous these societal leeches are we should be telling ourselves stories about how much better everyone else's lives could be if they didn't exist.