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Gates not the richest anymore ;)

flyfish29

flyfish29

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 4, 2003
2,175
4
New HAMpshire
Bill Gates can sit his a** down on an IKEA chair and take a second place to the founder of IKEA furniture who is now the world's richest person.


http://in.news.yahoo.com/040404/137/2cdva.html

:D :D :D :D :D :D

Oh yeah, and if anyone ever says how much Gates gives away, remember if he gives away $1,000,000 to a charitable cause he is only giving away .000025% of his net worth! I can afford to give away .000025% of my check each month to charity and give far more than that!
 
flyfish29 said:
Bill Gates can sit his a** down on an IKEA chair and take a second place to the founder of IKEA furniture who is now the world's richest person.


http://in.news.yahoo.com/040404/137/2cdva.html

:D :D :D :D :D :D

Oh yeah, and if anyone ever says how much Gates gives away, remember if he gives away $1,000,000 to a charitable cause he is only giving away .000025% of his net worth! I can afford to give away .000025% of my check each month to charity and give far more than that!
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Doesn't mean much. Most of both fo their wealth is in stock. one of them has a good day and the other a bad day at the market, and it reverses. Doesn't really matter in either event, both are insanely rich.

As far as his charitable contributions, if I remember right, Gates is planning on giving away essentially everything when he dies. His children are going to get a sizeable chunk of change, but he's probably going to give away like 60-90% of his net worth eventually. Also, check out the gatesfoundation.com website. According to that, he's given that foundation 27 billion dollars. I think thats pretty admirable. I'm no microsoft fan, but Bill gates has done some good charitable work and will only keep on giving more. I dont think its really fair to critize anyone who is at least doing something to help others.
 
please read the article. the only reason he's not the richest is because of the sinking value of the dollar relative to the crown.
 
well thats crap


cos thats how much the swede is worth including his company

bill gates has that in cash under his matress (in the bank)

so big raspberry

gaes company....think its called micro something.... is worth well just a bit more(100 s of billons)
 
meh, like people said, a lot of peoples wealth is not like in actual moolah.
by the way bill gates has never consistently been the world's richest man. it usually alternates between the sultan of brunei and bill gates.
 
I guess that we need to all pull out our tiny violins. Although Bill Gates has not money worries whatsoever. Longhorn just might put him on top again.
 
strider42 said:
I think thats pretty admirable. I'm no microsoft fan, but Bill gates has done some good charitable work and will only keep on giving more. I dont think its really fair to critize anyone who is at least doing something to help others.
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I posted this as sort of a joke, but also to bring awareness to his so called charitable work. Yes, he doesn't need to give it away, but in a way he does because public opinion swings in his direction when court battles come up because he gives away "so much of his wealth".


He makes his money through unethical business practices! I have studied his work extensively though the eye of a an undergrad management degree ( I am working on my Masters in Managment as we speak) and he has created his worth from ripping off others. I am actualy somewhat ok with him ripping off ideas and selling them as his own which is a more accepted practice in business today (unfortuantely) but when you start using your monopolistic power to UNETHICALLY destory your competition is where I draw the line.

Think of it this way, if someone has to pay a fine for doing something wrong they may have their fine money go to a charitable cause, but does that make the "wrong" they did ok- just cause their fine went to charity?!?! I personally don't think so.

As far as criticizing someone who is doing something to help others, I am a teacher who gave up a very successful business marketing career and took a $25,000 pay cut to do so. On top of that, I had to spend $18,000 to go back and get certified as a teacher. As a teacher I make less $ than a frickin McDonalds ASSISTANT manager. They get better pay, better benefits, even free food and uniform :D It is much harder to what I did than what Mr. Gates has done!

<-------stepping off soapbox.

Oh yeah, I read the entire article and I know his dropping to #2 was based on the strength (or lack there of) of the dollar and I know it has happened before, etc. The post was a joke.
 
jhu said:
please read the article. the only reason he's not the richest is because of the sinking value of the dollar relative to the crown.
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Huh? So what? If Gates became richer again, then you could just say the same thing (i.e. "the only reason Gates is the richest is because of the relative strength of the dollar to the crown"). Why is the old dollar:crown exchange rate the "correct" one and the new one the "incorrect" one? That would make no sense. :)
 
Actually, if Sam Walton were alive he could buy both of them. Of course we all know his greedy little kids built up the bulk of their fortunes on the back of the masses, but that's another thread altogether. (Sam is, however, twirling in his grave)
And Gates gives a HELL of a lot of money away.. adjusted for inflation, compared to other currencies, or whatever. And don't give us that percentage crap. A million is a million for me and for you... and for him. It's one of the few things I admire about him. His kids will get 30M, the rest goes to charity. A modern day Carnegie, and more compassionate than the neo-cons ever hope to be... but that's another thread too.
IKEA is fantastic stuff: does what it does without a heap of dough. Brilliant. Okay, it's not Duncan Fyfe, but more folks need well-built, cheap furniture than need a $5,000 dining room table. (Chairs extra)
 
wow. ikea founder is the richest ...

i thought that the prince of brunei was still the richest.
 
flyfish29 said:
As far as criticizing someone who is doing something to help others, I am a teacher who gave up a very successful business marketing career and took a $25,000 pay cut to do so. On top of that, I had to spend $18,000 to go back and get certified as a teacher. As a teacher I make less $ than a frickin McDonalds ASSISTANT manager. They get better pay, better benefits, even free food and uniform :D It is much harder to what I did than what Mr. Gates has done!
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yeah, except this isn't about who had it harder is it. I applaud your efforts. I was going to be a teacher, but got burned out on school and didn't see any incentive to do it for myself at the time. I may go back to it. So I have a great respect for those who sacrifice to teach. Its still irrelevent to whether or not the money gates gives away is substantial or not. he gives away a lot, to really good causes like fighting AIDS in africa. There's a lot to be said for that.

Also, don't confuse Bill gates with microsoft. They are separate entities. He made money off of microsoft, he was even CEO and directed a lot of what they did. But he is not microsoft. Any money he gives away is not the same as microsoft being fined and that money going to charity. Too totally different things. It comes down to the fact that like it or not, gates has all this money, and the vast majority of it is going to charity in the end. Thats a good thing. Some of it may even go to help teachers, who knows.
 
strider42 said:
Also, don't confuse Bill gates with microsoft. They are separate entities. He made money off of microsoft, he was even CEO and directed a lot of what they did. But he is not microsoft. Any money he gives away is not the same as microsoft being fined and that money going to charity. Too totally different things. It comes down to the fact that like it or not, gates has all this money, and the vast majority of it is going to charity in the end. Thats a good thing. Some of it may even go to help teachers, who knows.
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As far as confusing, I am not, but I do know his wealth was derived strictly from M$ income and benefits.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe he is doing some great things with his money! I just think we need to think about the source of the money and how it has negatively impacted peoples jobs, companies, and lives. The companies and people working for those companies that M$ has put out of business or downsized due to unfair and unethical business practices have suffered greatly.

Yes, much of his money goes to help schools and reform movements.
 
strider42 said:
Also, don't confuse Bill gates with microsoft. They are separate entities. He made money off of microsoft, he was even CEO and directed a lot of what they did. But he is not microsoft.
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He isn't Microsoft, but he has had enough control over it for the past 20 years to be held responsible for some of the very bad things they've done to both other companies and the average consumber during that period.

Basically, anything he gives to charity was collected from a tax on people who pay too much for software ($400 for a word processor, say), and extorted from smaller companies forced out of business. You could say this is a worthwhile exchange, and if you're going to have all those ill-gotten gains you might as well do something worthwhile with it all, but I'm not holding him up as any shining example of charity yet.

Also, although he's no longer as directly in control of MS, I haven't seen him making any efforts to make MS less of an abusive monopoly--he could, after all, as a means of charity start running it like a fair business and paying taxes. But, no. And don't tell me he's continuing illegal business practices just so he'll have more money to give away when he dies.

Now, if he extorted 50 billion dollars from people and gave it all away *before* he died, moved to a modest house, and got a job in an office, then I might be a little more willing to forgive, but I don't see that happening any time soon.
 
Makosuke said:
Also, although he's no longer as directly in control of MS, I haven't seen him making any efforts to make MS less of an abusive monopoly--
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I would argue he really is still in control. He stepped aside somewhat when they really started having legal issues so his face was not in the press quite as much as the bald guy...Steve B or whatever his name is...but he not only created the business, he created the culture and business model they run from and that is very much still Bill G. He is running it still...just from up in the booth so he doesn't take the heat the head coach does when the powers that be come down on M$. :D
 
Vector said:
I saw this too, but according to Forbes he is only the 13th wealthiest with 18.5bil.
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Yeah, the original source added things up wrong. Billy's still #1, but Warren Buffet is very, very close to him. See here for details.
 
OK different source but basically same article:
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04062004/business/154472.asp

gotta admit though, the dude's got money!!!

Buffett, the Omaha investment guru, was No. 2 with $42.9 billion.

On that same list, Kamprad was No. 13, with an estimated fortune of $18.5 billion.

But Veckans Affaerer said when the dollar’s slide against the kronor was calculated, he had overtaken Gates and Buffett.

Kamprad has a reputation for frugality and lives in Switzerland where, as a resident, he is not subject to Sweden’s taxes, which are among the highest in the world.

Ikea, founded in 1943, has 174 stores in 31 countries and employs some 76,000 workers.
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Besides That doesn't move me anywhere on the ladder of success :(
 
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