Bill Gates wishes he weren't so rich [story]
 

REDMOND, Wash. (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday he wished he were not the world's richest man.

"I wish I wasn't. There is nothing good that comes out of that," said Gates, whose personal fortune sank by billions since last week when the software giant disappointed investors by saying new investments would crimp earnings.

The corporate leader who made Microsoft into the world's largest software maker - and who is also one of the biggest philanthropists - is seen as a man who does not like publicity. He explained that he did not like the attention of being the world's richest person.

CNN: Bill Gates wishes he weren't so rich

how the fuck can you not like being the worlds richest man?!?!?!

i think hes gone crazy... :\

What a load of crap.

Oh yeah ... what a great life it must be . having as much protection as the president everywhere you go, having thogh choices non stop, not having any private life.

etc etc etc

More money more problems.

It must suck. He never set out to be famous. Now he's the richest man in the world. I'm sure he gets hasseled everywhere he goes and you know everyone and their grandma has been asking him for money since day 1. I bet he can't even pump his own gas without being hassled.

He prolly have his own gas tank in his backyard ... lol

heh he just doesn't want the attention that comes along with it

I'd take all the money, and all the problems the money would bring. All the servicing my Lamborghini Murcilago, Ferrari Enzo, Koenigsegg CCR, Bugatti Veyron would require... would be such a pain always taking them in for tuneups... but I think somehow I'd survive. The staff required to maintain my world's largest private ocean yacht, yes it would be a royal PITA, but I think I'd somehow manage.

Maybe the supercar mechanics would overcharge me, and it might piss me off... but I think I'd live through it.

All the choices of private jets on the market... Should I buy a Boeing, or a Leer? Or maybe the Cessna Citation? Perhaps it would be a bit overwhelming.

But I'm up for the task.

I wish I was in his shoes.. :P

it must really suck.........

I wouldn't want to be that rich...and if I was, I wish nobody would know.

One of my worst nightmares if to become famous for one reason or the other.

dog on bill gates all you want, but he is THE most generous person in the history of the human race.

he has donated more to charity as a single person than any company or other person has in history...and when he donates to charity, he does it VERY hands on, he is on a huge mission right now to reform our public schools....the government doesn't even care about our schools, but bill gates it out to change each one personally

well said, I am the same way and I have always told my wife that, I would love to be rich, but I would want NO ONE to know about it

That level of wealth imprisons your entire life in every way and in everything you do.

If you ever get a chance watch the movie Citizen Kane which is about the life of billionaire publisher William Randolph Hearst.

http://library.sdsmt.edu/friendsvide...20Kane%20f.jpg

I am more than willing to take on some of his burden. Just send me that cash bill.

why doesnt he pay someone to be richer than him.

Bill needs to cut the prices of his MS products, that said he should enjoy being popular.

bill is only about 8% of microsoft , so he doesn't really all that much of a say in pricing

Look at it this way. If someone has 2 dollars and donates 1 of them, they are being very generous. If someone has 1000 dollars and donates 2 dollars, they are not being very generous at all, even though they donated more money than that first person, and this is how it is with Bill Gates. When one has as much money as Bill Gates, there are a lot of politics involved which dictate how much one donates. It turns out that he actually makes more money by donating some of his money, than if he were to keep it an pay taxes on his net total.

" I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don't think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money... more quotes from Orson Welles

2hp

i don't see where you are pulling your gates #'s, I am trying to find it, but all I can find it stats that show he has donated nearly half his total worth, to me that is like someone that has $1.00 and donating $.50 of it

Me too... I just can't see myself getting stalked by people...

He gave like 24 billions one shot mostly to africa founding the world's biggest foundation overnight.

link?....

yeah, and he has given SOOOO much more than that previously....him and his wife LIVE to give away their money to worthy causes, if that makes him a bad man, the i would LOVE to be a horrible nasty person like him

he can donate a bilion or 2 to my good fund

um..dude, google is your friend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

http://www.forbes.com/personalfinanc...30malaria.html

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/ar...1/Pg4-2811.pdf


and there are so many more links man, just search for yourself...

One of the best movies!:thumbsup

Fuckin dumbass rich people, they whinge all their life cause they wanna be rich, then when they do get rich they fuckin winge again, its like cartman with "fingerbang" lol

poor guy....

Where in this Forbes link you posted does it state he donated $25 billion?
http://www.forbes.com/personalfinanc...30malaria.html

Look at this Wikipedia link I found. It will explain the first Wikipedia link you posted a little more clearly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_&_...tes_Foundation

The link states:
"As of 2005, the foundation has an endowment of approximately US$28 billion. To maintain its status as a charitable foundation, it must donate at least 5% of its assets each year. Thus the donations from the foundation each year would amount to over $1 billion at a minimum."

Now how many billions of dollars do you think having this chairty saves him in taxes? So the way I see it, if he didnt donate the amount of money that he does, the government would take all or most of it away in taxes anyway. Bill Gates is motivated purely by politics.

mhmm, link please?

dude, have you seen what he is PERSONALLY doing for the public schools of this country? and until a few weeks ago it was all with barely any press, until oprah made it VERY public

i suggest you read up more on him and his wife before making bold statements like that, while you may not like him, he DOES NOT have to donate shit, but him and his wife do

just look at the walmart nazis, the walton family doesn't donate shit, NOTHING AT ALL....and they have billions of dollars each

why do you not like him so much? you seem to have a total hatred for him, and I just dont' understand how someone could hate someone else who is doing such great thing...politics or not, you CAN NOT ride the guy for the contributions he makes to better the world

it is obvious you have some other motivation here, some sort of jealousy or hatred for him...or maybe you just have a nick "somecreep" and you like living up to it

god damn dude, use google

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/in...ica/index.html

so, they have $28billion in the endowment, right? um, isn't that about half his worth?

the other parts of that just say what the least amount needs to be

can you show me proof that he is doing this for tax purposes only? and can you show me where he came up with these tax laws himself?

the tax benefits is just a side effect of what he does, if he didn't care he wouldn't be in the trenches personally (without media around) working on this himself...he would be sitting behind a desk writing checks all day

Hey SomeCreep... tax deductions don't "save" you money. They allow you to spend money, without otherwise incurring taxes on that same money.

This doesn't make you money. Let's take Bush's SUV tax-break for example. So you go and buy an $80k SUV... it's not a free SUV. And you still spent $80k out of your pocket. You aren't saving anything, or making anything... in fact, you'd be losing money like a crazy bitch... you just don't have to pay taxes on that $80k.

SomeCreep, you obviously hate Bill Gates and love making assumptions, but fact is you and I will never know what his motives are

I am going to leave it at this:

Whatever his intentions are, whether it be getting good press or working it for tax purposes, I don't care. The fact that HE IS DOING SOMETHING is what matters, he is helping people one at a time, and if he gets a little tax break or some good publicity out of it, GOOD FOR HIM! There need to be more people in this world like Bill Gates that are "motivated purely by politics", if everyone was "motivated purely by politics" in the same way his is, the world would be a better place

I have read up on him. His wife seems to be a genuinely good person.

However, I've concluded that although Bill Gates is a genius, he is also the most competitive, ruthless, and money hungry business man currently alive on planet earth. Do you think he became the world's richest man by accident? Do you think he's spent his whole life working to give half his money away? No.

You seem to buy into propaganda easily though. Well good for you, I hope that's working out for you. Hey btw, George W. Bush is a really great guy too. He just wants to give Iraqi people freedom and lower gas prices as much as possible.

Somecreep, just out of curiosity.. have you donated even say 5% of your income to charity?

No, I'm poor.

It could be worse for Bill

He could be poor wrongfully imprisoned and getting gang raped in the shower.

I bet the above scenario happens more often then some poor soul becoming a mega tycoon.


There are millions of situations I can think of that are worse then having a crazy amount of money.. for example having NO money

and thats a mild one