• jonne@infosec.pub
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      10 hours ago

      Yep, and he’s using that charity money to get influence with research institutions and universities. Meanwhile he privately holds stock in big pharmaceutical and energy companies. Not sure if anyone has done the work to trace the money, but I’m sure his charitable donations end up benefiting those private investments.

      So the money he would’ve otherwise paid in taxes went to a vehicle that buys him PR and benefits him financially through his other investments.

      • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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        4 hours ago

        I know of an organization attached to a prestigious university that solely exists because at the end of some billionaire’s life, he decided he wanted to chuck some cash into a foundation to try to burnish his image.

        But he was so morally corrupt that his version of helping others was to mandate that the foundation focus on “helping” people in developing countries find business opportunities.
        Read: they assess how people and environments can be exploited for capitalism while focusing on telling stories about how that exploitation improved the quality of life for people there.
        Most of the professors who work with the foundation are very wealthy from their non-academic pursuits.

    • x00z@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      It’s his Gates Foundation that manages the cash, uses it for investments and similar stuff to make more money, and then handle all of the separate donations towards projects and charities. When you have billions to donate you can’t just donate it around. Most charities can’t handle millions in money. Eventually it becomes a logistics game and you’ll have cash laying around.

      It’s a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation