Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It was as candid as it could get. The man who has mastered the art of not just making billions,but also giving billions,hit out hard on the question of how people who make money through questionable means resort to philanthropy to turn it around. …the child who receives a vaccine that saves his life is not going to question the source of the money of the vaccine, said Warren Buffett,the 80-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway,on his maiden visit to India.
Equally blatant was the man himself,Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates,who said he is not the police in India. If somebody is doing something wrong in India,then authorities should take notice of that. We are here to share our experiences on giving.
A humbling message was sent across,as Gates and Buffet took centrestage on the art of giving. However,India Incs biggest philanthropist,Azim Premji,opposed a law on mandatory CSR spending and how a new consciousness was emerging among Indias rich about the need for greater giving.
Even as Buffett maintained that while creating wealth and investments were a very different game than giving wealth,he said he has advised his three children to tackle bigger problems,even if it meant trying and re-trying. I have told my children,who are going to be involved in my three foundations,to tackle problems that will have a significant number of failures,and if they achieve some success there,that success will be important and very different from businesses and industry, he said.
In similar vein,Bill Gates echoed how he and his wife had decided to give it back to society. When you are lucky enough to have great success,then you have a question·are you going to spend it on yourself,have your children start out life as incredibly wealthy or give back to society? He stressed how giving back brings immense pleasure,saying,Giving back to society is what gives us immense pleasure,its the best thing for our children to be independent and make their own way.
And for those looking for a crash course on making money,Gates was at his wistful best. Well,its not that simple that you listen and make billions of dollars! Gates stressed how philanthropy was very broad based and how role models should create opportunities to unlock the potential of youth in India·build more universities,evolve talent and give them a chance to improve society by creating new companies or inventing new things. Gates stressed that first-generation wealth is actually more generous than dynastic wealth and the biggest givers are those who receive first-generation wealth.
For the record,Forbes places Gates as second on its wealth list with a net worth of $56 billion,while Buffett is at number three with $50 billion.
