Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the terms of deposit in the world by far the largest private foundation. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had first launched in 1994, a foundation named " William H. Gates Foundation " to life, which was initially led by his father. In 1999, it was the " Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ". It is headquartered in Seattle with about 1058 employees and an endowment of $ 36.2 billion. Since the founding of a total $ 25 billion was paid in grants, 2010, there were $ 2.6 billion, $ 3.4 billion in 2011. The grants flow in all 50 states of the United States and in more than 100 countries.
Goals and projects
The Foundation is organized into three areas: Global Development, Global Health, and the United States.
Global Development
The Foundation is engaged in agricultural development. By June 2011 U.S. dollars were provided over 1.8 billion. Contributions are made in the areas of research and development, agricultural policy and market access. By far the largest funded project is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which was launched with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation launched in 2006. Other large amounts were in the HarvestPlus program to develop nutrient- enriched plants and projects to develop drought-tolerant maize and rust- resistant wheat varieties. Add to this the promotion of nationally representative longitudinal studies, the support of African women in agricultural science and support the reform initiatives in several African countries. More tens of millions have been invested in the support of coffee and milk producers and market access of small farmers in Africa.
Global Health
The foundation supports the treatment and control of diseases in the world. This includes projects for the supply of AIDS in Botswana and the provision of money for vaccination programs for children in India and Africa. In addition, she is involved in research for vaccines against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and the provision of vaccines against polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles and yellow fever. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization ( GAVI) is 75% (U.S. $ 1.5 billion), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which, in contrast to the UN organizations (WHO ) where they have a permanent seat has the supervisory board.
United States
In the United States, the Foundation is primarily involved in education. It will be awarded to young people from low-income families, so as to enable them to attend secondary school scholarships. Also supports initiatives that have the free use of computers and the Internet in public libraries to the target.
Endowment of Warren Buffett
On June 25, 2006 Warren Buffett announced a donation of Berkshire Hathaway B shares, which were worth at that time $ 32.5 billion. In an interview with the U.S. business magazine Fortune, the then third-richest and temporarily world's richest man, Warren Buffett, announced plans to give away 85 percent of his shares in the investment company he built Berkshire Hathaway to various foundations. Approximately five-sixths of it should the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation benefit, of the shares over several years will be overwritten. Buffett's total assets were at this time to around U.S. $ 45bn estimated (Forbes Richest People The World 's 2006). The first payment in the amount of U.S. $ 1.6 billion was made in June 2006, the second in value of 1.76 billion U.S. dollars in July 2007, the third in the value of U.S. $ 1.8 billion in July 2008 and the fourth with a value of 1.25 billion U.S. dollars in July 2009.
Criticism
In January 2007, the Los Angeles Times journalists published a report in which they. Foundation investments in companies accused who operate highly polluting or expensive AIDS drugs to sell ( "blind -eye investing " )
Another criticism refers to the close relationship between the Foundation and the food company Monsanto, which itself stands in the criticism to threaten the ancestral agriculture in Africa, and especially on the patenting of certain plants, vegetable and cereal seeds in economic dependence to hold.