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Buffett defends Giving Pledge against billionaire backlash

Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:11 am
Posted by bigjoe1
Member since Jan 2024
1730 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:11 am
quote:

Warren Buffett is defending the philanthropic initiative he co-founded with Bill Gates almost 15 years ago as it faces what The New York Times calls a “billionaire backlash.”

Buffett wrote in an email to the newspaper, “I firmly believe in the Giving Pledge and consider it quite a success, though my physical limitations have eliminated my participation in the annual get-together.

“I have continued to contact possible members but only on a minor scale in recent years. Bill Gates has continued major efforts.”

In 2010, Buffett said he and Gates hoped to “establish a new norm” with the Pledge, which is a “promise by the world’s wealthiest philanthropists to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime of wills.”
quote:

More than 250 families are listed on the Giving Pledge’s web site, but the pace of new additions has slowed. In the first five years, 113 joined. That fell to 72 in the second five years, and just 43 signed in the following five years.

The Times quotes Aaron Horvath, a sociologist who has studied the Pledge, as saying it is a “time capsule” of the 2010s that now “feels old school.”

He says billionaires now think, “I can keep my head down and keep making money. I don’t have to put up with this charity charade anymore.”

The Times adds that in an “era of a more voracious capitalism” with “billionaires trending right and getting ahead by embracing an administration that is happy to dole out favors,” many of them believe “the real way to give back is via business success” that boosts the economy.
CNBC
Posted by SallysHuman
Lady Palmetto Bug
Member since Jan 2025
19904 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:16 am to
quote:

The Times adds that in an “era of a more voracious capitalism” with “billionaires trending right and getting ahead by embracing an administration that is happy to dole out favors,” many of them believe “the real way to give back is via business success” that boosts the economy.


Posted by Timeoday
Easter Island
Member since Aug 2020
21697 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:29 am to
I love how these charities simply give to other charities they are affiliated with.

Posted by Ailsa
Member since May 2020
6750 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:33 am to
quote:


I love how these charities simply give to other charities they are affiliated with.


it's one big club...
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Posted by SloaneRanger
Upper Hurstville
Member since Jan 2014
13548 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:45 am to
Imagine teaming up with Bill Gates and his foundation and thinking you are doing a good thing. Buffett is an old fool.
Posted by RohanGonzales
Pronoun: Whatever
Member since Apr 2024
9719 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 8:51 am to
Here is an idea:

Give without telling the world about it.
Posted by NC_Tigah
Make Orwell Fiction Again
Member since Sep 2003
137721 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 9:06 am to
quote:

Buffett defends Giving Pledge against billionaire backlash
I have no issue with tax protected philanthropy AS LONG AS THE PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS TARGET NON-POLITICAL US DOMESTIC AID. Everything else should be subject to normal taxation.

Once the Gates money is transferred tax-free overseas it, de facto, leaves U.S. jurisdiction, and the enforcement chain largely collapses. The IRS requires paperwork, separate accounts, grant agreements, expenditure reports, etc., but with virtual exclusivity, the Gates Foundation money targets locales where the IRS has no field investigators and no reciprocal enforcement authority. In my estimation, that is deliberate.

Such donations travel can through several jurisdictions in seconds, creating gaps in monitoring and enforcement that criminals can take advantage of with total impunity. This isn't hypothetical. There are many instances of respected public figures who have been found guilty of charity fund abuse.

The Gates Foundation and similar foreign directed "philanthropies" have the look and feel of massive money laundering operations.

Posted by bigjoe1
Member since Jan 2024
1730 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 9:17 am to
quote:

“the real way to give back is via business success” that boosts the economy.


I think Elon Musk is doing more good for society by creating 100's of thousands of jobs in new and innovative industries than by giving it away. The best anti proverty program is a job.
Posted by bigjoe1
Member since Jan 2024
1730 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 9:19 am to
quote:

AS LONG AS THE PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS TARGET NON-POLITICAL US DOMESTIC AID. Everything else should be subject to normal taxation.


This where I am. Charity begins at home.
Posted by Strannix
C.S.A.
Member since Dec 2012
53601 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 10:19 am to
The child rapist bill gates should have all of his assets seized and given to me.
Posted by BCvol
Member since Jan 2022
419 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 10:31 am to
Saw a video about billionaire philanthropy recently. It seems that many billionaires were allowing their wives to decide which charities to donate to. Many seemed like legit causes but often were just fronts for left wing activist organizations.
Posted by trinidadtiger
Member since Jun 2017
19621 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 10:47 am to
I have this friend who is a manager at this ultra rich catering service for the sailing islands from St. Lucia down to Grenada. They got an order for some special truffles from France.

They airfreight it to Miami and then on to St. Vincent then Union Island. He picks it up and boats it over to Canuan. Its a small island with about 1,000 people, beautiful, with a resort and a Trump golf course. Built on the hills around the course are these 20-30 million dollar homes.

So he delivers these truffles to this hedge fund fella out of London. He said his three guests were Buffett, Rupert Murdoch, and Gates. He said when he left he immediately took a "bush bath".

Its an expression Caribbean people use when you have to ward off some bad karma.
Posted by HagaDaga
Member since Oct 2020
7241 posts
Posted on 3/21/26 at 3:45 pm to
quote:

The child rapist bill gates should have all of his assets seized and given to me.

Don't forget how much Buffett is invested in trans-ing children.
Posted by CR4090
Member since Apr 2023
9101 posts
Posted on 3/22/26 at 11:39 am to
It was always a bullshite PR move.

Why, if you really gave a damn would you wait until death? If it's the right thing to do, it's the right thing to do now.
This post was edited on 3/22/26 at 11:48 am
Posted by TheHarahanian
Actually not Harahan as of 6/2023
Member since May 2017
23763 posts
Posted on 3/22/26 at 11:46 am to


Both Buffett and Gates have made statements indicating they want larger taxation of the ultra wealthy, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they dodge personal taxation by every means available, because leftist policies are for everybody else, not the people who advocate for them.

That won’t stop other leftists from trying to force contributions from them under penalty of law, and I’ll laugh at Buffett and Gates if they’re successful.
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