“The Los Angeles Times has revealed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made millions of dollars each year from companies blamed for many of the same social and health problems the Foundation seeks to address. We speak with the lead reporter on the LA Times investigative team that broke the story,” Democracy Now! reports.
Democracy Now! reports, “The Gates Foundation has an endowment of more than $31 billion. The investment mogul Warren Buffet has pledged an additional $30 billion delivered in incremental sums. Since its inception six years ago, the Foundation has committed more than $11 billion to programs around the world. This includes major grants for vaccine and immunization programs, HIV and AIDS research, and public education here in the United States.”
“But the LA Times investigation reveals the Gates Foundation’s humanitarian concerns are not reflected in how it invests its money. In the Niger Delta — where the Foundation funds programs to fight polio and measles – the Foundation has also invested more than $400 million dollars in companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp, and Chevron. These oil firms have been responsible for much of the pollution many blame for respiratory problems and other afflictions among the local population,” Democracy Now! reports.
“The Gates Foundation also has investments in sixty-nine of the worst polluting companies in the US and Canada, including Dow Chemical. It holds stakes in pharmaceutical companies whose drugs cost far beyond what most AIDS patients around the world can afford. Other companies in the Foundation’s portfolio have been accused of transgressions including forcing thousands of people to lose their homes; supporting child labor; and defrauding and neglecting patients in need of medical care,” Democracy Now! reports.
Democracy Now! reports, “Overall, the LA Times says nearly $9 billion in Gates Foundation money is tied up in companies whose practices run counter to the foundation’s charitable goals and social mission. And that number may be understated – the Gates Foundation has not provided details on more than four billion dollars in investments it says are loans.”
Full article here.
Apparently, even Bill Gates can’t buy off that bitch Karma.
No matter how hard he tries, and how much he spends, he just can’t make himself look any less evil.
yeeeeeick. There’s that picture again. >.<
Actually, this is a problem many philanthropists have– who to give the money to without giving some to poorly run places? The only way to avoid this is to sit on your pile of money like Scrooge McDuck.
Overheard at the G.F. Endangered Species Fundraising dinner:
“Oh my, this is delicious Giant Panda. It goes perfectly with the California condor casserole.”
You can’t save it if you can’t eat it.
True, but investing in Exxon is hardly ‘giving’ it to anyone.
“Oops! I bought a controlling interesting in your otter-clubbing operations! Fiddlesticks!”
I think people inherently make Bill Gates out to be the devil. As some omniscient being that has a strategy of balancing intrensically good tasks with amazingly bad ones.
Hold Bono up to the same scrutiny and you’d probably find some capitalistic endeavours in his portfolio too.
Bill Gates is no more evil intentioned than Bono or the Pope. You want to find real hate and venom – look at Rush Limbaugh who is promoting a lightly veiled political caste system.
Gates is really harmless by comparison.
cb
“R” said what I meant in a much simpler manner.
Good Job!
He’s consistant.
He ran MS just like his latest project.
Cause harm and then offer to fix it.
whadda nice guy.
Bill Gates is a liar, thief, cheat, and swindler. His ill-gotten gains remain ill-gotten gains whether they’re used to fund drilling for oil or Malaria vaccinations. What goes around, comes around.
Yes, lets look at Rush Limbaugh. Of all the charges thrown at the man, “a lightly-veiled cast system” is probably the most outlandish, given that he spends day-in and day-out railing against the “plantation mentality” and the self-ghettoization practiced by people that guarentee the closest thing to castes that we have in America. Limbaugh promotes individual freedom and economic freedom, which are destructive to any sort of caste system. So your charges are both wholly ignorant as well as being just plain venomous. Go spread lies about someone obscure. At least that way you’ll have fewer people exposing your idiocy.
The Gates Foundation is just a cover for Bill’s Skynet plans. He’ll be hunting humans in 2099 with his head in a jar atop superfast robot legs and spambot arms. Humanity’s only chance for survival will be his occasional freeze ups.
MW: soon
I’m happy the MDN pubblished what I mention in a yesterday’s post. Great! Thank you guys!
Make as much as possible publicity of it, Gates need it after Job’s triumph…let’s give him the last kick!
Have you ever wondered why in the RED AIDS Project neither Bono, nor Shriver contacted Gates and MS? Now you know!!
Only ideas make money and give work and make our life better!!
Money and power you just make more for yourself and make our life and work WORST!
Bye, bye, Mr. Bill Worst!!!
Gates’ philanthropic work is one thing and is to be commended, however the LA Times article (long read) was searing in the way it exposed the hypocritical manner in which his foundation makes a conscious effort to make money in order to continue its charitable work.
I recall they invest something like 280 million for immunizations and vaccines while investing 450 million in oil properties adjacent to the very communities they are trying to save. The oil companies in these foreign countries have far fewer operating restrictions than those in the US, hence they are an extremely attractive investment.
Though the people of these hell-holes are immunized from disease they’re over-saturated by the chemicals in the drinking water and in the air they breathe. Either way they’re fuçked.
Gates’ and his new found money maker even attracted the attention of Buffet!
Gates has no conscience!
</political rant>
So what!!! Investments are supposed to make money – and that investment income will help sustain the charity fund indefinitely. The companies named are some of the worlds largest, most well known, most responsible, and most profitible – and they employ millions of people around the globe. No matter how much is spent on reducing and cleaning waste, industrial production causes pollution – period.
“Only ideas make money and give work and make our life better!!
Money and power you just make more for yourself and make our life and work WORST!”
This is just plain dumb. Unfortunately, all people have are ideas. At least Gates put his money where his mouth is. Yes, ideas are important, but money is also needed to get those ideas implemented.
Also, I wish people wouldn’t treat these issues so simply, Gates and his foundation are still noobs at this, I doubt any of us can do any better with what is given.
And have you ever thought that by investing in those companies, that as stockholders they would have more sway to INFLUENCE them to cut back on some of the things they are doing to make conditions worse?
Stop being so damn short sighted and giving useless rants!
“Stop being so damn short sighted and giving useless rants!”
Um, but that would spoil the fun that is MacDailyNews.
And White House press conferences, C-SPAN, Glenn Beck and so much more.
I’m sorry, but this just isn’t news. I hate Microsoft as much as anyone, but c’mon now. The libbie wackos at the LA Times really need to find a better use of their time.
Gates is nothing if not very CONSISTENT:
The Foundation gives the world lung disease and the medicine to help you.
Microsoft gives the world Windows malware and the antivirus software to help you.
Investing money in profitable ventures in order to benefit a foundation != Giving grants to and funding research for the companies that the foundation invests in.
What the foundation invests in is a completely separate issue than what the foundation gives grants to.
Chomper is right for the most part. I would like to add two things though:
1) If Bill. and more appropriately his wife. are devoting so much time to this project, I am a little surprised at the level of the problem. Sure difficulties are inherent in such an undertaking, however, the magnitude seems a tad higher than I would expect given their time committment.
2) The measure of the man (or women) is how they follow up on these shortcomings. If they are indeed oversights, will they be altered/changed/dropped etc? If not, then I am major league dissappointed.
Let’s give them a chance. Charity is good even if it is given by the world’s biggest dork.
Not defending Gates but isn’t anyone who buys gas for their car supporting oil production in third world countries? You don’t have to buy stock in Royal Dutch Shell to be part of the problem.
Environmental regulations are pretty lax, even in the USA. Oil companies only obey the local laws, no more, no less.
If those Nigerian Princes would spend some of the oil money they have hoarded in their Swiss Bank Accounts, perhaps the people in the Niger delta would not need the Gates Foundation. The money is there. The people who need it never see it’s benefits.
The one positive aspect of such a practice (I am not discounting the negatives here) is that they are taking some of the value from those companies and using it to fund a foundation that offsets the negatives of the companies in question.
Don’t get me wrong, oversight is important, but let’s not try to have knee jerk reactions.
I mean this isn’t Slashdot…=P
Think about it for a second. The foundation has $31 billion to invest – that’s a lot of money find a home for. They have to buy a lot of stocks of large corporations who obviously do pollute in the course of their activities. We can blame Bill Gates for awful software, but the Foundation is one positive that will have lasting effects for generations to come.
See busting…
Your attack is typical and sad as usual. I’m an idiot simply because I call Rush the Pied Piper. If you could think for yourself, youd see that.
Don’t get me wrong, I can listen to the guy – because if you filter out the misinformation – you can learn about Washington.
Didn’t mean to expose your soft underbelly and get your legs kicking in the air.
chump.