Plant Trees you’ll Never See
Bill Gates.
Entrepreneur. Software developer. Innovator.
Co-Founder CEO of Microsoft.
One of the richest men in the world.
One of The Top 10 Most Influential People of our generation.
Family man. Husband to Melinda. Father to Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe.
Deeply dedicated to solving humanity’s biggest problems.
One of the great philanthropists of all time.
Committed to giving back.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill Gates was the richest man in the world running the world’s most valuable company.
Not many people get to do that.
Imagine that power. Imagine the things you could do with that kind of wealth. Imagine the cars, houses and islands you could buy.
With all that power Bill decided to leave his life’s work at Microsoft to focus his efforts exclusively on running his Foundation with his wife, Melinda.
Since 2005 he has brought his genius to the world of Philanthropy, investing billions of his dollars, and, more importantly, contributing his creativity, vast network and innovative approach to some of the world’s big problems.
Melinda and him have brought the valuable lessons of business to the world of philanthropy: using OKRs, taking big bets, using technology to innovate and hiring the best in the world to make things better.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has largely focused on large global health issues. The most famous being working to reduce child mortality from diarrhea.
When Bill and Melinda started their Foundation 2M children died each year from diarrhea. It was the largest cause of infant death in the world.
20 years later and that number stands at 0.5M.
Imagine that: saving 1.5M children’s lives every year . Picture the 10M’s of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and grandparents who each year are now spared the trauma of losing a child.
I’d much rather do that than buy an island.
The Giving Pledge
Bill and Melinda have given $28BN of their wealth to the Foundation so far. They plan to eventually cede 99.9% of it — over $100BN — leaving their 3 children ‘only’ $10M each.
During 2005 they — along with Warren Buffet — publicly committed to donating at least a half of their wealth to giving back. And then challenged their peers to do the same.
That’s a remarkable act of generosity. It’s also a crazy idea to expect others to follow suit.
Only crazy people do crazy things like that.
As of today 234 of the wealthiest individuals have signed up to the Giving Pledge. Contributors include Zuckerberg, Bloomberg, Branson, Dalio, Musk, Sandberg, Ellison and Hoffman. Every month another high profile family joins.
More than $1TN has been committed to giving back to help others live healthier and more productive lives!
That’s amazing.
This number will grow to be 100 times bigger over the next 10 years as Bill, Melinda and others like them set the example.
Contribute
Dedicate your life to helping others. Expect nothing in return.
Act selflessly. Work tirelessly.
Pay it forward.
Remember you are indebted to Life until you help some less fortunate person.
Know that you have been blessed with more than what you need — respond by passing it forward to others.
Invest in the next generation.
Build a world that you want your grandchildren to live in.
Start small. Just a few seeds. Water them every day. See what happens over the years.
Share your gifts.
Give back.
Contribute.
Leave the world in a better place.
Plant Trees you’ll Never See.
An EXPLORE Value
