World’s richest man Bill Gates pledges not to spoil his children
Bill Gates is a man who found it hard to fit in. The geeks he grew up with came to resent him for betraying them but as he was elevated to the position of topping any list of ultra high net worths, he was not accepted by the waspish elite of America.
In the 1990s, Bill Gates was seen as technology’s equivalent of Rupert Murdoch or Citizen Kane and a force for evil. Since the establishment of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, though, most have come to change their view. The organisation, founded in 2000, has endowed an extraordinary $38.3 billion as of 30th June 2013 and focuses on enhancing healthcare and reducing extreme poverty worldwide.
This week in a TED talk, Gates gave an insight into what he intends to do with his $76 billion fortune. He and his wife are clear that they will not leave billion dollar trust funds to their children and of this Mr Gates commented:
“They won’t have anything like that. They need to have a sense that their own work is meaningful and important. You’ve got to make sure they have a sense of their own ability and what they’re going to go and do… We want to strike a balance so they have the freedom to do anything but not sort of a lot of money showered on them so that they can go out and do nothing”.
He is wise in his words. Bernie Ecclestone and his brattish daughters ought to take note.
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