How Bill Gates Money Affects the World (Essay Sample)

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Bill Gates the Philanthropist – How Bill Gates Money Affects the World
Bill Gates is a renowned American entrepreneur, a software executive, and a philanthropist. He is also the chairman of Microsoft, a Company which he co-founded together with Sir Paul Allen. Born in October 25th 1955, he is known to be in the class of the wealthiest men on earth. To be precise, he was voted as the world's richest man for a decade and a half until year 2008 by Forbes Magazine CITATION Ker13 \l 1033 (Dolan). Much of his wealth came from his Company, which he held the top CEO's position for years. To date, he still owns about nine percent of the total shares in the Company.
The largest act of philanthropy from Gates was the creation of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation was named after him and his wife, Melinda Gates. Their passion to improve children's welfares was the driving factor which made them start the foundation. Today, the foundation is ranked as the most enormous private charitable organization globally. The foundation's primary object is to improve the general healthcare and wellness of children in the society. It also focuses in reducing poverty from all nations across the globe.
Since the year 1994, Gates has donated about $26 billion dollars to his Gates foundation. This made the foundation so enormous and able to aid the disadvantaged in different nations. The foundation is divided into three departments namely; United States program, Global health program, and the global development program. Some of his donations are devoted towards improving United States education system. About 75 percent of his donations are sent to the poorest nations of the world.
In America, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims at improving the quality of education offered in the learning institutions in the nation. This is performed by creating numerous American education opportunities for learners. The foundation also aids learning institutions to access information and technology resources. The foundation main head quarters are based in Seattle. Nevertheless, it has branch offices in different nations across the globe.
Major decisions involving the foundation are made by Gates and his wife. Warren Buffet a serious donator in the foundation also takes part in the decision making process. He is known to be among the wealthiest investors in different parts of the world. Up to date, Gates has remained close and passionate to the foundation. This explains why he semiretired from his Company, Microsoft. He sought to focus more of his philanthropy endeavors than any other function.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett hit the limelight in June 2010 when they decided to launch The Giving Pledge campaign in America. Through the campaign, they urged other American Billionaires to support their philanthropy endeavors across the globe. He challenged other billionaires to bestow half of their wealth to charity during their lives, or after death CITATION Mic11 \l 1033 (Nichols). Gates generosity was not surprising as he had already pledged to donate about 95 percent of his wealth to poor people.
Gates philanthropic endeavors have also been observed in India. In the past, he collaborated with Indian Institutes of Management (IMM), and the Government of India to help improve sanitation. This was in the rural areas of the country. In the recent times, he came into the limelight for his efforts in spearheading a campaign to eradicate Polio in India. He did this by funding the purchase of vaccination kits and drugs, which were used to immunize and treat small children in India.
The foundation's efforts to eradicate polio in India were immensely successful. In 2011, only a single case of polio was reported in the country. The foundation still promises to continue controlling preventable diseases in the world. It will do so by providing the necessary vaccination requirements such as drugs to curb the spread of contagious diseases. This way, they will be able to save more lives among the poor populations of the world.
His efforts to fight off polio did not start in India. He has been an outstanding supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The initiative was founded in the year 1988 after more than three hundred and fifty thousand people started contacting Polio each year. The support the initiative obtains from the Gates Foundations has aided in reducing the number of new infections every year tremendously. The number of new infections has been reduced by 99 percent. Sir Gates adamantly believes that, with proper coordination of resources, the disease can be eradicated entirely.
Currently, Gates foundation is shifting its focus towards the improvement of agriculture in the world. Gates points out that lack of sufficient technology and research impedes the development of the agricultural sector. Gates believes that, without the right technology, farmers cannot be able to feed the increasing world's population. His foundation is funding researches which will aid in the creation of drought resistant crops by use of genetic engineering.
In America, Gates is pushing towards peer-reviewed teaching system. He recommends it as a highly effective method of reforming the current education system. In this method, a group of elite teachers will be trained with all the resources the foundation can offer. In turn, they will roam from one class to another sharing with learners about what works and what does not work. This method offers interactive learning. This is whereby both the students and the learners discuss and share opinions and experiences on various topics in class. He believes that this will enhance academic performance among learners.
Gates seriousness in philanthropic activities was observed in the year 2006. He announced that he wanted to quite his full time work at Microsoft and take on a part time position. He decided to focus fulltime on his philanthrop...