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Xeo · Mar 10, 2005, 03:33 PM

wouldn't you give like $40B of it away to charities? I know Bill Gates has this large foundation that does lots of good stuff, but seriously, what in the hell does anyone need that much money for? I mean, sure he'd lose his "richest man in the world" title, but what better way to to do it?

$40B could do a lot of good. Even leaving the money in the U.S. by reforming schools like he talked about, or developing the inner city to bring those people who feel they have no chance out of poverty. There is a lot in this country that money could fix.

He'd still have $6B left over, and MS isn't done making money, so he's really not going to hurt himself by doing it.

Shaddim · Mar 10, 2005, 03:36 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
wouldn't you give like $40B of it away to charities? I know Bill Gates has this large foundation that does lots of good stuff, but seriously, what in the hell does anyone need that much money for? I mean, sure he'd lose his "richest man in the world" title, but what better way to to do it?

$40B could do a lot of good. Even leaving the money in the U.S. by reforming schools like he talked about, or developing the inner city to bring those people who feel they have no chance out of poverty. There is a lot in this country that money could fix.

He'd still have $6B left over, and MS isn't done making money, so he's really not going to hurt himself by doing it.

Well, it's not like it's liquid or anything. I'd say 99-98% of it is tied up in M$ stock.

benb · Mar 10, 2005, 03:41 PM

I'm pretty sure he donates a whole lot every year, but you have to figure it takes a whole lot of time to donate that money. I mean, if you figure you could do a $5 million donation every day, it would still take 22 years to give away $40 billion.

Xeo · Mar 10, 2005, 03:44 PM

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Well, it's not like it's liquid or anything. I'd say 99-98% of it is tied up in M$ stock.

I guess I didn't consider that. I was picturing a bank account with $40B in it.

But to benb, he could hire people to take care of it and do it much more quickly.

What would you do (if it was liquid)?

Millennium · Mar 10, 2005, 03:48 PM

Very little of Gates' net worth is actually liquid; most of it is in investments. It's not easy to donate that sort of thing; you can sell things to convert them into liquid money but this can have interesting consequences, particularly when you're dealing with that much.

Certainly Gates could donate the whatever liquid income these investments generate, and he seems to do this much of the time, but this makes for a surprisingly small fraction of his total wealth.

badidea · Mar 10, 2005, 03:49 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
I mean, sure he'd lose his "richest man in the world" title, but what better way to to do it?

Hint: He already lost it! It's the IKEA guy now!

Shaddim · Mar 10, 2005, 03:52 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
What would you do (if it was liquid)?

Setup an international foundation for adult education; HS, college, trade school, etc.. All of it paid.

nforcer · Mar 10, 2005, 03:54 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
What would you do

Two chicks at the same time... I think if I had a million dollars I could hook that up.

Shaddim · Mar 10, 2005, 03:57 PM

Originally posted by nforcer:
Two chicks at the same time... I think if I had a million dollars I could hook that up.

dude, it doesn't take nearly that much.

and it kinda loses a bit of it's luster after a few months.

Dougmc · Mar 10, 2005, 03:57 PM

From "Office Space":
Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
Lawrence: I'll tell you what I'd do, man, two chicks at the same time, man.
Peter Gibbons: That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I had a million dollars I could hook that up, cause chicks dig a dude with money.
Peter Gibbons: Well, not all chicks.
Lawrence: Well the kind of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do.
Peter Gibbons: Good point.
Lawrence: Well what about you now? what would you do?
Peter Gibbons: Besides two chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Well yeah.
Peter Gibbons: Nothing.
Lawrence: Nothing, huh?
Peter Gibbons: I'd relax, I would sit on my ass all day, I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Just take a look at my cousin, he's broke, don't do ****.

JohnSmithXTREME · Mar 10, 2005, 04:00 PM

Originally posted by nforcer:
Two chicks at the same time... I think if I had a million dollars I could hook that up.

why two? i'm sure you could have quite a few more girls with a million dollars worth of sex services.. I know in Amsterdam it's something like �50 for suck and f*ck, so do the math and see how many girls that is!

BasketofPuppies · Mar 10, 2005, 04:09 PM

Originally posted by badidea:
Hint: He already lost it! It's the IKEA guy now!

Not true. Some journalist reported IKEA, the corporation's, net assets as its CEO's net worth.

As for Billy boy, unless there's some massive inflation coming soon, for a variety of reasons, he's better off waiting until he dies before he gives his money to charities.

TheBadgerHunter · Mar 10, 2005, 04:13 PM

Originally posted by MacNStein:
dude, it doesn't take nearly that much.

and it kinda loses a bit of it's luster after a few months.

Dude, you're living my dream! Its not like you're just keeping it warm either.

Kenneth · Mar 10, 2005, 04:58 PM

How about sending this big fat check to the State of Washington?

Superchicken · Mar 10, 2005, 05:11 PM

If Bill took out all his money... I think it'd kill the US economy haha...

That said if I were Bill... I'd buy Africa.

Captain Obvious · Mar 10, 2005, 05:27 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
wouldn't you give like $40B of it away to charities?

No.
Or rather, hell no.

But I would open up a charter school and subsequent scholarship/mentor program that would help CERTAIN kids who have shown themselves to be individuals of distinction with the potential and desire to do great things if they were only properly funded. Then those kids would be funded until the completion of their education and would be bound to assist in the program that helped them by serving as mentors to the next generation of kids.

Not everyone deserves help despite their need. I am not talking about just helping kids because they are poor but kids who have sought out help because they know they can do great things. The best of the best in ability who were simply not born with the means to be raised an in environment that would best nurture their talents. People who would inevitably persevere because of the type of person they are but who could do even better if given a helping hand.

Basically a program to help kids who already know they could be the future leaders in their community and are willing to work for it if given the chance.

TheBadgerHunter · Mar 10, 2005, 05:38 PM

Originally posted by Superchicken:
If Bill took out all his money... I think it'd kill the US economy haha...

That said if I were Bill... I'd buy Africa.

Racist.

sworthy · Mar 10, 2005, 06:06 PM

I would give quite a bit of it away, but remember, with that much money the best way to make more money with it is invest it. Keep generating more cash and give away the excess. Use it like an endowment.

effgee · Mar 10, 2005, 06:09 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
... What would you do (if it was liquid)?

Put every last penny in a foundation (education-related, most likely mixed kids/adults) - then hire myself, with a life-long contract and a decent salary (as in: "wealthy" but not "obscene") and get to work.

The most complicated part after the initial setup would be finding employees who you can trust to not rip you off ...

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:
... The best of the best in ability ...

Hm, that sounds vaguely familiar ...

Oh yeah, "Men in Black": "We're here because you're looking for the best of the best of the best, Sir. With honors". Any relation to Captain America?

Superchicken · Mar 10, 2005, 06:14 PM

Wait... correction... first step 10 Xserves, Dual 2.5 with Dual 30 inchers, 17 inch PowerBook, iMac mounted above my bed, and a 12 inch iBook for on the road... a nice car... a house... and THEN buy Africa.

badidea · Mar 10, 2005, 06:15 PM

Originally posted by BasketofPuppies:
Not true. Some journalist reported IKEA, the corporation's, net assets as its CEO's net worth.

As for Billy boy, unless there's some massive inflation coming soon, for a variety of reasons, he's better off waiting until he dies before he gives his money to charities.

So this is not true?

IKEA founder overtakes Gates as world's richest - TV

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ingvar Kamprad, the Swede who founded furniture retail chain IKEA, has overtaken Microsoft's Bill Gates as the world's richest man, Swedish TV news reported on Sunday.

Citing next week's edition of the Swedish business weekly Veckans Affarer, public service SVT2 television said Kamprad, 77, has a personal fortune of 400 billion crowns ($53 billion).

Gates's fortune is put at $47 billion, according to the latest list of the world's rich in U.S. Forbes magazine, SVT2 said.

Kamprad, known for frugal habits such as flying economy class, lives in Switzerland and no longer takes part in the daily running of IKEA, but has kept ownership of the company with more than 180 stores in over 30 countries in the family.

SVT2 said the dollar's slide against other currencies is the main reason why Kamprad has now overtaken Gates.

Shaddim · Mar 10, 2005, 06:16 PM

Originally posted by badidea:
So this is not true?

Correct, that is untrue. They're mistakenly looking at IKEA's valuation, not his.

badidea · Mar 10, 2005, 06:22 PM

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Correct, that is untrue. They're mistakenly looking at IKEA's valuation, not his.

Well, this guy owns IKEA (and nobody else)!?

Apple Pro Underwear · Mar 10, 2005, 06:56 PM

even though everybody disagrees with him here...

Bill Gates believes in Microsoft. That is his legacy to the world and to the history of the world. If I was him, I'd use 20 billion and invest in my own company. I'd hire the cream of the crop programmers and even open a school that teaches employees how to become the best in their respective positions. Changing people's lives and tech for the better would be my idea of using the money wisely.

Because right now, Apple is handing them their own heads when Microsoft should be the clear innovation leader. Also they use unscrupulous methods and anti-competive business practices to boost revenue when they should play by the rules.

Krusty · Mar 10, 2005, 08:18 PM

I'd take each Macnn forum member's post count + days registered and add them together, and then multiply that number by $1000 ....

.... and then I'd make a spreadsheet of how much money that would be ...

.... and think about what all the forum members would do with that money ....

.... while I'm sailing around the world on my $40billion dollar floating city

effgee · Mar 10, 2005, 08:25 PM

Originally posted by Krusty:
.... while I'm sailing around the world on my $40billion dollar floating city.

Wow - just like Kostner in "Waterworld". Kinda creepy.

FulcrumPilot · Mar 10, 2005, 08:56 PM

I would like to lease the international space station for 1 month every year, in return I will begin upgrading it big time. I will propose a space tourism venture with my friendly russian relatives and as a demo for the first 5 years, I will ask them to send me up there on a regular basis (once a year). I will invest in an astronaut training school for the lesser mortals. Oh! On the first trip, I will try my very best to ask Melissa Theuriau to go with me, no charge for her, in exchange she should make me proficient in french while we spend a month in space.

ghporter · Mar 10, 2005, 09:02 PM

The problem with handling that much money is making sure it actually goes to the causes you intend it to, and not into administrators' pockets, overhead, and other waste. Look at when Ted Turner gave a big pot of money to the UN. He put conditions and stipulations on it, and still wound up not happy with how they spent it.

If I had $40B to give away (I wish!), I'd spend at least $1B of it solely on building the overhead and management infrastructure needed to administer the rest of it. I'd make it a foundation that would make Carnegie look like a soup kitchen!

Then I'd think on the BEST way to use the money for the benefit of the MOST people. I have no way to figure that out myself, but that's what the $1B would help buy-the best and brightest minds to help figure out who needs how much how badly.

I'd also make sure I had taylored shirts and shoes that fit right. Gotta look good at those photo ops, and you can't look good if your feet hurt.

Superchicken · Mar 10, 2005, 10:02 PM

I think if I had a crap load of money I'd make the world's most awesome set of ministries

Scotttheking · Mar 10, 2005, 10:47 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
wouldn't you give like $40B of it away to charities? I know Bill Gates has this large foundation that does lots of good stuff, but seriously, what in the hell does anyone need that much money for? I mean, sure he'd lose his "richest man in the world" title, but what better way to to do it?

$40B could do a lot of good. Even leaving the money in the U.S. by reforming schools like he talked about, or developing the inner city to bring those people who feel they have no chance out of poverty. There is a lot in this country that money could fix.

He'd still have $6B left over, and MS isn't done making money, so he's really not going to hurt himself by doing it.

He can't "give it away". The vast majority of that money is in voting stock. Meaning, he's one of the major shareholders in Microsoft. While it's considered income for those calculations, it's really just all stock. If he were to give it away or sell it, he'd lose control over his company. The percentage of stock he owns lets him call the shots (not talking day to day stuff, but board level stuff).

olePigeon · Mar 11, 2005, 01:12 AM

I'd buy a better president for the U.S.

Buckaroo · Mar 11, 2005, 01:34 AM

Well, lets see

I would start out buying the following:

My own private island
The Star-Clipper
A couple 747's
The biggest house ever built, the size of 40 football fields.
A bunch of pretty girls to help out around the big 40 football field house.
A Super Mac Computer
A F-18 Fighter
And an Aircraft Carrier just to have fun with my F-18
And 20% of Apple Corp.

TubaMuffins · Mar 11, 2005, 03:22 AM

thats a hard question, i would hire someone to spend it all

JohnSmithXTREME · Mar 11, 2005, 09:11 AM

Originally posted by badidea:
Hint: He already lost it! It's the IKEA guy now!

Actually, according the Associated Press, Bill Gates is still no.1 and Mr. Kamprad of Ikea is no.6

article

badidea · Mar 11, 2005, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
Actually, according the Associated Press, Bill Gates is still no.1 and Mr. Kamprad of Ikea is no.6

article

Yeah, I saw those new numbers just a few hours ago.....what I don't understand is why they sometimes count the whole family and sometimes not!? The Waltons (Wal-Mart) would have 72.4 billion $$$$ as a family!

edit: my numbers are from Yahoo and I just read your list and there seems to be a 5th Walton (90 billion $$$$)

JohnSmithXTREME · Mar 11, 2005, 10:15 AM

An ikea was recently opened in London and it had to be shut down a few hours later because people were getting out of their cars in the middle of the highway and stampeding towards ikea. If this type of demand keeps up, I wouldn't be surprised if the owner of Ikea moves up a few more places on the Forbes list.

E's Lil Theorem · Mar 11, 2005, 12:48 PM

Originally posted by badidea:
....what I don't understand is why they sometimes count the whole family and sometimes not!? The Waltons (Wal-Mart) would have 72.4 billion $$$$ as a family!

edit: my numbers are from Yahoo and I just read your list and there seems to be a 5th Walton (90 billion $$$$)

Well, when Sam Walton, the founder fo Wal-Mart, died he left his Wal-Mart stake to his four kids and wife. So, each of them own about a 5th of what Mr Walton had. To put things into perspective, if he were alive today, he'd be worth about $90 billion, twice what Bill Gates is worth

CRASH HARDDRIVE · Mar 11, 2005, 12:56 PM

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
An ikea was recently opened in London and it had to be shut down a few hours later because people were getting out of their cars in the middle of the highway and stampeding towards ikea.

Did this guy show up?

SimeyTheLimey · Mar 11, 2005, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
I'd buy a better president for the U.S.

I always suspected your real name was George Soros.

BasketofPuppies · Mar 11, 2005, 01:51 PM

Originally posted by E's Lil Theorem:
Well, when Sam Walton, the founder fo Wal-Mart, died he left his Wal-Mart stake to his four kids and wife. So, each of them own about a 5th of what Mr Walton had.

Actually, he gave most of his money to his family before he died. Tax reasons, I believe.

ghporter · Mar 11, 2005, 04:50 PM

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
Did this guy show up?

I hope not! Most of the crowd would have been out to tear him to shreds for being such a pompous ass! Designer? Phhhaaah.

Anyway, what's the deal with Ikea, in the first place? It's mostly Danish Modern Gone Commercial. Yuck. Give me Mission or Arts and Crafts any day. And with $46B I could get a LOT of nice Mission furniture!

effgee · Mar 11, 2005, 05:00 PM

Well, here's another thought ...

Originally posted by Xeo:
If you had $46 billion...

I'd buy MacNN - the whole shebang - and upgrade the forums to vBulletin 3.0.7.

JohnSmithXTREME · Mar 11, 2005, 05:00 PM

Originally posted by ghporter:
I hope not! Most of the crowd would have been out to tear him to shreds for being such a pompous ass! Designer? Phhhaaah.

In case you weren't sure, Van Den Poop of Elite Designers is actually part of Ikea's marketing campaign.

ghporter · Mar 11, 2005, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
In case you weren't sure, Van Den Poop of Elite Designers is actually part of Ikea's marketing campaign.

Oh, I got it. Unfortunately, they seem to have the "famous designer" image nailed with that ad campaign. I've acutally met one such "designer" a while back. He couldn't even draw. But he had "vision," and people went along with it. Like the townsfolk when the emperor walked down the street naked. I did not tell this fake that I was on to him; it wasn't worth my time.

dialo · Mar 11, 2005, 07:07 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
wouldn't you give like $40B of it away to charities?

He's already given ~$30 billion away. That's a HUGE amount whether you look at it as an absolute amount or relative to his overall net worth.

dcmacdaddy · Mar 11, 2005, 07:18 PM

I would do exactly what Bill Gates already is doing: give my money away in an organized fashion where it can do the most good. I mean, he is going to be responsible, through his foundation, for eventaully eliminating polio and malaria from the world. Talk about leaving a legacy for the history books. That's what I would do.

Oh . . . and do two chicks at the same time.

dav · Mar 11, 2005, 07:32 PM

i'd give a chunk to terry gilliam to finish "the man who killed don quixote".

Xeo · Mar 11, 2005, 09:24 PM

Originally posted by dialo:
He's already given ~$30 billion away. That's a HUGE amount whether you look at it as an absolute amount or relative to his overall net worth.

That is pretty impressive.

I didn't word my question so well. I wasn't trying to attack Gates or anything. I was just thinking about how if I had $46B in the bank, I would give most of it away. I wondered if you guys would do the same.