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☆ Bill Gates responds to skepticism about him owning 275,000 acres of farmland: 'There isn't some grand scheme involved'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates is best-known for cofounding Microsoft, but he's also a major US landowner, having bought 275,000 acres of farmland. In his annual Reddit AMA Wednesday, Gates was asked why he has bought so much farmland. There were 895.3 million acres of farmland in America in 2021, according to a 2022 report from the Department of Agriculture. In the Reddit AMA, he also said he'll sell what he owns as money goes towards the foundation. In his Reddit AMA last year, one user said, "What do you plan to do with all the farmland you have purchased?"

☆ Melinda French Gates Adjusts to a New, Solo Role
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Betsy Mckay | Emily Glazer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Melinda French Gates met recently with a group of fellow philanthropists to stress a need to cure what she calls one of America’s greatest ills. “We have to fix this country’s broken caregiving system,” Ms. French Gates said to the virtual session in November with wealthy people who have signed the Giving Pledge, promising to donate more than half of their fortunes to charitable causes. Philanthropy and new policies are needed, she said, “if we want to see more women unlock real power in their lives.”

☆ Queen guitarist May, soccer Lionesses named in king's New Year honours
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Denis Pellerin/Handout via REUTERSLONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Britain recognised Queen guitarist Brian May, several English "Lionesses" who won the European women's soccer championship and diplomats involved in the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in King Charles' first New Year's honours list. Four members of the England women's soccer team received honours, with captain Leah Williamson awarded an OBE, while the tournament's golden boot winner Beth Mead, defender Lucy Bronze and all-time top scorer Ellen White received MBEs. The team's coach, Dutch national Sarina Wiegman, received an honorary CBE - a type of award given to foreign nationals. Queen Elizabeth died in September, making the New Year's honours the first to be awarded by King Charles since he came to the throne. The list is drawn up by independent committees, before it is approved by the prime minister and the monarch.

☆ 'Nobody works, nobody gives a damn' anymore because of 'socialism', says Home Depot's 93-year-old cofounder
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Home Depot's cofounder told The Financial Times nobody wanted to work because of "socialism." The rise of socialism was why "nobody works, nobody gives a damn," Bernie Marcus said in an interview with The Financial Times on Thursday. I don't want to work — I'm too lazy, I'm too fat, I'm too stupid'." "I'm worried about capitalism," Marcus told The Financial Times. Despite having had five heart operations bypasses, Marcus told the FT he "would rather wear out than rust out."

☆ N.Y. man accused of hitting wife with SUV, stabbing her in front of kids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Sophia Giraldo, 41, is hospitalized at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Queens after she was struck by an SUV Tuesday. A criminal complaint alleges that her husband, Stephen Giraldo, hit her with his vehicle and then stabbed her. Their three young boys, ages 11, 9, and 6, were in the SUV at the time but were not injured. Stephen Giraldo was arraigned Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. She also hosted "The Unfiltered and Free Podcast with Sophia Giraldo."

☆ 10 money managers who quietly control the vast fortunes of Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, the Waltons, and other big-name billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Many über-rich people don't outsource their wealth — they hire their own chief investment officers. He left SAC in 2005 for Dune Capital Management, but stayed in touch with Steve during his five-year term at the investment firm. Andrew oversees CPV's portfolio, which primarily comprises direct private investments such as Collectors Universe, a collectibles-authentication company, and the New York Mets. In 2011, Wildcat Capital Management was launched with Potter as president and chief investment officer. Since November 2021, Carland has also served as the interim chief investment officer for Builders Vision's asset arm.

☆ Warren Buffett trolled Bill Gates by proposing he spend almost $400 million on an engagement ring
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Warren Buffett helped Bill Gates pick out an engagement ring at Berkshire-owned Borsheims in 1993. Buffett spent 6% of his net worth on a ring in 1951, and told Gates he should do the same. Gates, worth around $6.2 billion in 1993, declined to shell out $370 million on a piece of jewelry. Buffett met them at the airport and escorted them to Borsheims, a jewelry business he bought four years earlier. Gates was worth around $6.2 billion in 1993, according to Forbes.

☆ Bill Gates says his divorce from ex-wife Melinda French Gates was one of his 'personal low points' over the past few years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said his divorce from Melinda French Gates was one of his "personal low points" over the past few years. Gates' father, Bill Gates Sr., died in September 2020. Gates and French Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. They continue to work together on philanthropic efforts through The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. French Gates mentioned an affair Gates had in 2000 with a Microsoft employee.

☆ Fact Check-‘Catastrophic Contagion’ video is fictional and does not support claims about pandemic preparedness exercises
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Baseless claims that pandemic preparedness exercises are proof that disease outbreaks are “planned” by authorities have been a recurring narrative since the coronavirus pandemic broke out. These fictional scenarios go beyond infectious diseases, as such exercises also exist for natural disasters or nuclear events, for example. These rules, that are binding for WHO members, set out countries’ obligations when handling public health events and emergencies that could potentially cross borders (here) (here). Otherwise, we will be unprepared for the next infectious disease event. Experts told Reuters that preparedness exercises like “Catastrophic Contagion” have been a part of pandemic preparedness for at least the last two decades.

Twitter on Monday disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a group of volunteers who offered the company outside expert advice about online safety, according to an email seen by NBC News. "As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this." Holmes added, "Over past week several members of council have had their personal safety and well-being impacted by the actions of Twitter staff." Some members of the council recently sparked an argument over the company's handling of child sexual exploitation material. Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, responded: "this is false."

☆ Watch: NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Splashes Down Into the Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Getting the Biggest Impact With Your Charitable GivingWomen are taking more control over their financial assets, and that includes charitable giving. Assistant Managing Editor Mary Romano and Nicole Bates, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives at Melinda Gates' Pivotal Ventures, discuss how the company accelerates equality in the U.S. through its investments and partnerships, and how donors can identify issues important to them and move forward with their giving.

☆ This non-profit has raised over $10 million to support Indigenous women entrepreneurs: 'It's up to us to close the racial wealth gap'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Here's how one non-profit, Native Women Lead, is enabling Indigenous women's economic mobility:'It's up to use to close the racial wealth gap'Native Women Lead was founded in 2017 by eight Native American women entrepreneurs: Jaime Gloshay, Kalika Davis, Lisa Foreman, Kim Gleason, Vanessa Roanhorse, Alicia Ortega, Stephine Poston and Jaclyn Roessel. That conversation inspired the creation of Native Women Lead, an Albuquerque-based non-profit that aims to help Indigenous women entrepreneurs across the world access the capital, mentors, financial education and support needed to thrive in their careers and narrow the wealth gap. To date, Native Women Lead has provided about $500,000 to 65 Indigenous women entrepreneurs through the two funds, partnering with credit unions and investing firms such as Nusenda Credit Union and ImpactAssets to connect entrepreneurs with capital. While closing the wealth gap might start with funding opportunities, Native Women Lead views wealth as "more than just revenue or profits," Stephine Poston, one of the group's co-founders, says. Keeping this in mind, Native Women Lead offers wellness-focused retreats for Indigenous women as well as fireside chats on self-care practices, healing from trauma and other mental health topics.

SYDNEY, Nov 28 (Reuters) - When Melbourne barista Melinda Elliott had to cut back on casual work shifts this year, she asked her buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) provider, Afterpay, to lower her credit limit. "There was no email to say, 'your credit limit's gone up again'; it was out of nowhere," said Elliott by phone. The absence of interest charges has exempted them from consumer credit regulation, and the sector's business has grown strongly during an online shopping frenzy spurred by COVID-19 stimulus payments and ultra-low interest rates. If they come under regular consumer credit regulation, they will also lose their main competitive advantages. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which oversees the Credit Act, told Reuters it was "supportive of the BNPL sector being subject to regulation".

☆ Parents of successful kids don't worry about screen time, expert says—they teach these 3 skills instead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Melinda Wenner Moyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

And as much as we wish we could, we can't completely shield our kids from screens. While researching for my parenting book, I found that the most successful parents don't spend time worrying about how much time their kids spend on digital devices. Instead, they teach these three skills to help their kids become "screen smart":1. How to draw screen boundariesIf you feel you have too little control over your kids' screen use, or you want to establish some rules and expectations, consider sitting down for a family meeting to create a digital road map. Allow your kids to include their input and share how your technology use will fit into the roadmap, too.

☆ MacKenzie Scott says she's given away almost $2 billion this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

MacKenzie Scott has donated $2 billion to charities this year, per her most recent Medium post. With a net worth of $26 billion, she's become one of the world's most generous billionaires. The 52-year-old philanthropist and former wife of Jeff Bezos has a net worth of $28 billion, according to Forbes. The funds donated by Scott this year are in addition to the $12.5 billion she's given away since signing up to the Giving Pledge. On November 14, Scott wrote a blog post on Medium outlining her most recent donations.

☆ New San Francisco clubhouse represents a milestone moment for executive women in tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Executive women platform Chief opened a new clubhouse in San Francisco this week. ‘Sense that this is a first'On the opposite coast, a counterpart executive clubhouse just opened in San Francisco and it holds great meaning beyond its four walls. Chief's San Francisco clubhouse includes a full-service bar. A month after the San Francisco Chief club's opening, women say they already see it as a milestone moment that represents more than just a new building. “It’s interesting coming full-circle and it feels long overdue.”Executive women platform Chief opened a new clubhouse in San Francisco this week.

☆ Warren Buffett explains his $750 million charitable donation on Thanksgiving eve
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"I've got a personal pride in how my kids turned out," Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick. This is the ultimate endorsement in my kids, and it's the ultimate statement that my kids don't want to be dynastically wealthy." The 92-year-old investor donated 1.5 million Class B shares of his conglomerate to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife. He also gave 300,000 Class B shares apiece to the three foundations run by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation. In June, he gave 11 million Class B shares to the Gates Foundation, 1.1 million B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 770,218 shares apiece to his children's three foundations.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway says Warren Buffett donates shares to family charities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said Warren Buffett has donated more of his fortune to four family charities, without disclosing whether the billionaire chairman made a new donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett donated 1.5 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. Another 900,000 shares were split evenly among charities run by his children Howard, Susan and Peter: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the Novo Foundation. Buffett has since 2006 donated more than half of his Berkshire shares, worth more than $46 billion at the time of the donations. According the Buffett family foundation websites, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation works to alleviate hunger, mitigate conflicts and improve public safety around the world.

☆ Bill Gates says he's done some 'weird crap' in his life, such as drinking 'water from fecal sludge', to mark World Toilet Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said in a LinkedIn post on Saturday that he's done some "weird crap" in his life. In 2015, he also convinced TV host Jimmy Fallon to drink water made from "fecal sludge." In 2015, he convinced TV host Jimmy Fallon to drink water from "fecal sludge" after Gates examined the Omniprocessor, a machine that turns feces into water and electricity. "A few minutes later I took a long taste of the end result: a glass of delicious drinking water." Watch a clip of Bill Gates and Jimmy Fallon here:

☆ Gates Foundation pledges $7 billion for Africa as Ukraine war diverts donor cash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Thursday it was committing $7 billion to Africa over the next four years, as Bill Gates warned that the Ukraine crisis was reducing the amount of aid flowing to the continent. Humanitarian groups in Africa are grappling with the diversion of funding away towards Ukraine, and as Russia’s invasion increases goods prices globally, impacting aid operations. Drought, compounded by conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, has pushed more than 10 million people in the region “to the very brink of a hunger crisis”, the U.S.-based Christian relief group World Vision said this week. Following a meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto, Gates said on Wednesday that the Foundation would establish a regional office in Nairobi. The Foundation in 2021 gave charitable support of $6.7 billion and last week pledged $1.4 billion to help the world’s smallholder farmers cope with climate change.

☆ Hear Melinda French Gates’ one piece of advice for women
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Biden faces scrutiny about America's future as he heads abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Peter Nicholas Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

For the world leaders meeting with Biden over the next week, there’s no assurance that he'll be the president they’ll be dealing with for the next six years. The U.S. is unnerved by Chinese military exercises that threaten Taiwan and raise the specter of a future invasion. “Tuesday was a good day for America, a good day for democracy,” Biden said Thursday at a Democratic National Committee event. Another reason that Biden might find the trip more gratifying is that he averted the midterm wipeout that sitting presidents normally endure. Biden’s midterm test went much better.

☆ American Hospital Association's political committee falls victim to 'fraudulent activity'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

American Hospital Association PAC "promptly notified law enforcement after learning of the fraud," Hatton noted. American Hospital Association spokesman Colin Milligan declined further comment when reached Tuesday by Insider. American Hospital Association PAC financial filing indicating fraudulent activity. Big political money playerFounded in the late 1970s, the American Hospital Association PAC is one of the nation's most prolific special interest political committees. The American Hospital Association counts "nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members" among its membership.

SummarySummary Companies Money to help farmers adapt to climate impactsTo share tech innovations, help women farmersAdaptation finance a key focus of COP27 talksSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt Nov 7 (Reuters) - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $1.4 billion to help smallholder farmers cope with the impacts of climate change, part of efforts at global climate talks in Egypt to scale up supply of so-called adaptation finance. The world is currently not doing enough to help poorer nations withstand the effects of global warming, the United Nations said last week. The Gates Foundation's commitment, announced at the COP27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, will help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia build resilience into their work practices and improve food security. "The climate crisis is causing enormous harm every day as it jeopardizes entire regions of people and economies," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement. The foundation said its funding would go towards climate smart agriculture projects, new applications of digital technologies and other innovations, and to support women farmers.

☆ Handyman pleads guilty to manslaughter after body of Queens mom of 2 was found in a duffel bag
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Antonio Planas | Antonio Planas Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A Queens handyman who fatally stabbed his lover dozens of times and then stuffed her mutilated body in her son’s hockey bag pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter, prosecutors said. David Bonola outside the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills, Queens, on April 21. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16, prosecutors said. “In pleading guilty, the defendant has accepted responsibility and is being held fully accountable for his criminal actions. The bag, containing Gaal’s body, was found at about 8 a.m. on Metropolitan Avenue near Union Turnpike near Forest Park, prosecutors said.

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