A ll ˙ın
f
atmhe˙ıly
or the Gate
amily, success
tarted at hom
By Tim Talevich
A SERIES OF STUNNING events was set in motion a
decade ago when Microsoft’s Bill Gates, the world’s rich-
est man, announced plans to start the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, seed it with a significant portion of his per-
sonal wealth (about $27 billion to date) and eventually
retire from Microsoft to devote full time to the foundation,
which he did last July at age 52. Immediately, the founda-
tion became the world’s largest private philanthropy. Bill
and Melinda Gates’ personal contribution dwarfed those
of two other notable philanthropists in American history:
oil baron John D. Rockefeller, who, according to The
Chronicle of Philanthropy, gave away today’s equivalent of
$7.6 billion, and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who
IRIDIO PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO
donated today’s equivalent of $4.1 billion.
Gates made his donation—and his career move—in the
prime of his life. It was a watershed event that changed
