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☆ Jeff Bezos finally collected the Légion d'honneur awarded by France about a decade ago at a 'secret' ceremony, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jeff Bezos collected France's prestigious Légion d'Honneur on February 16, Le Point reported. French President Emmanuel Macron gave Bezos the award at a private, unannounced ceremony, per Le Point. President Emmanuel Macron presented the Amazon founder with the Légion d'honneur at a "secret" private ceremony on February 16, according to the report. Le Point published a photograph of Macron sitting with Bezos, who's wearing a pale grey suit, inside the ornate Elysée Palace. About 2,200 French citizens and 300 foreigners are awarded the Légion d'honneur annually.

☆ Bill Gates buys Heineken stake, despite saying he's 'not a big beer drinker'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Microsoft founder Bill Gates reacts during a visit with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the Imperial College University, in London, Britain, February 15, 2023. Justin Tallis//Pool via REUTERSAMSTERDAM, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Bill Gates has bought 3.76% stake in Dutch drinks giant Heineken Holding NV (HEIO.AS), although the billionaire founder of Microsoft has previously said he was "not a big beer drinker." Heineken Holding owns a controlling stake in brewer Heineken NV (HEIN.AS). A separate filing also dated Feb. 17 showed FEMSA sold all 18 million shares it held in Heineken Holding. Gates purchased 10.8 million shares, worth 883 million euros ($939.87 million) at current market prices, triggering a disclosure requirement under Dutch stock market rules.

☆ Bill Gates, who's 'not a big beer drinker,' just bought a $902 million stake in Heineken
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates bought a $902 million stake in Dutch brewery Heineken's parent company. The billionaire bought a $392 million stake in one of Mexico's largest brewers, Femsa, in 2007. He bought 6.65 million shares of the beer company directly, per the filing, and another 4.18 million shares through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Long before his Reddit post and the health study, Gates bought a $392 million stake in one of Mexico's largest brewers, Femsa, in 2007.

Bill Gates, the cofounder of Microsoft, is thought to have a net worth of about $106 billion. Gates' own father was a high-powered attorney who became a name partner at the law firm K&L Gates. He's cultivated his brand of philanthropy with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, his endeavor with Melinda French Gates, now his ex-wife. (Brock Adams, who went on to become the transportation secretary in the Carter administration, is said to have introduced Gates' parents.) Bill Gates' mother, Mary Gates, came from a line of successful bankers and sat on the boards of important financial and social institutions including the nonprofit United Way.

☆ Bill Gates: Nuclear waste is not a reason avoid nuclear energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Nuclear waste is not a reason to avoid using nuclear energy, according to Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist who more recently founded a next-generation nuclear energy startup, TerraPower. One common criticism of nuclear power is that nuclear reactors generate waste that stays radioactive for thousands of years. "The waste problems should not be a reason to not do nuclear," Gates said in an interview with the German business publication, Handelsblatt, published on Thursday. The volume of nuclear waste is very small, especially when compared to the energy generated, Gates said. But after a boom of nuclear power reactor construction in the 1970's and 1980's, the construction of new nuclear power generation came to a virtual standstill.

☆ Bill and Melinda Gates: Here's a look inside their 27-year marriage, from meeting at work, to spending $45 billion on philanthropy, to their 2021 divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Áine Cain | Allana Akhtar | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, announced he and his wife, Melinda, divorced in 2021. The two ran the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which had an endowment of $49.8 billion in 2019. "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," Bill Gates said in a tweet. Bill and Melinda Gates had been married since 1994, raised three kids, were worth $130.5 billion, and ran a namesake philanthropic enterprise boasting a $49.8 billion endowment. Here's a look at the marriage between Bill and Melinda:

☆ Bill Gates says he isn't a hypocrite for using a private jet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates was asked whether his private jet makes him a "hypocrite" while funding climate innovation. Gates disagreed, saying he pays for carbon offsets and his jet helps further his climate fundraising. Gates was asked in an interview with the BBC in Kenya what his response would be to someone who would call him a hypocrite for being a "climate change campaigner" while also flying "around the world in a private jet." On Reddit, the Microsoft cofounder has said his private jet is his "guilty pleasure" and his "big splurge." "That is too difficult," Gates told Bloomberg's Zero podcast.

☆ Bill Gates says he was surprised at being targeted by COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and 'people were looking for a boogeyman'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates told the BBC he was surprised by some COVID-19 conspiracy theories. He said he thinks people were "looking for a boogeyman" around vaccines. Several COVID-19 conspiracy theories have surrounded Gates in recent years. Gates has also joked that he was more often the target of conspiracy theories than Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the president of the United States, because he's more known internationally. Representatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not reply to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours.

☆ Bill Gates said he'd rather fund vaccines to 'save lives' than go to Mars, but he thinks someday Elon Musk will be a 'great philanthropist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates told the BBC he does not think traveling to Mars is a good use of money. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit founded by Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French-Gates, has put billions of dollars towards researching, developing, and delivering vaccines to the world's poorest countries. Last year, Musk made a $5.7 billion charitable donation in Tesla shares to the Musk Foundation, which he launched with his brother, Kimball Musk, in 2002. Gates and Musk have publicly disagreed in the past, including on COVID-19, how to address climate change, and space travel. Musk and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Bill Gates says he shouldn’t have had dinners with Jeffrey Epstein
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Microsoft founder Bill Gates said he “shouldn’t have had dinners” with Jeffrey Epstein during an interview with Australia’s ABC 7 .30. But Gates had told CNN he only had dinners with him for potential philanthropic opportunities. Presenter Sarah Ferguson grilled Gates, asking if he “regrets the relationship he maintained” with Epstein, going against his ex-wife Melinda Gates’ advice. “You’re going way back in time,” Gates said, adding he’s said this “over the hundredth time.”“I shouldn’t have had dinners with him,” Gates responded. “It’s a time of reflection, and at this point, I need to go forward,” Gates told CNN in 2021.

☆ Fact Check-Bill Gates did not claim he visited Epstein’s Caribbean island
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Allegations that Bill Gates visited late American financier Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little Saint James, have been debunked in the past. Reuters reporting about litigation regarding Epstein's island is viewable (here )When asked about Gates having visited the island or admitting he did so, a spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told Reuters that neither claim is true. Reuters found no evidence of Gates claiming, “he doesn’t know why he visited” Little Saint James. Reuters found no public record of Bill Gates saying he “doesn’t know why” he visited Epstein’s island multiple times. A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said he made no such claim and that he did not visit Epstein’s island.

☆ Fact Check-Bill Gates did not pull out of the 2023 WEF summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Posts on Twitter read: “EXCLUSIVE: Bill Gates has also pulled out of the WEF23 meeting in Davos, wonder why?” (here) and (here). Reuters found no evidence that Gates was scheduled to participate at the WEF’s 2023 conference (here). When asked whether Gates pulled out of the conference, a spokesperson for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation told Reuters the claim was false. “Bill was never confirmed to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2023,” the spokesperson added in an emailed statement. Bill Gates was never confirmed to be part of the 2023 conference of the World Economic Forum, a spokesperson for his foundation said.

☆ Fact Check-Bill Gates turned off replies on his Twitter page in July 2020
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

One Twitter user said: “Elon Musk EXPOSED Bill Gates in the latest twitter files so hard that he has now turned off comments on his Twitter” (here). However, Reuters Fact Check found that Gates disabled tweet replies in July 2020. The last apparent tweet by Gates allowing replies from other Twitter users appears to be on July 2, 2020 (here). A spokesperson for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said allegations that he disabled Twitter replies in response to Musk’s actions are false. Bill Gates’ Twitter account has disabled tweet replies since July 2020, years before the “Twitter Files” were released.

☆ 'Not right' for us to be key global health funder -Gates CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Mark Suzman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during an interview with Reuters at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 7, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie MadiCompanies Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust FollowLONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - It is not right for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to play such a big role in global health funding, but the group will not back away until others step up, its chief executive said. The Gates Foundation has faced criticism that it has too much power and influence in the global health realm, including within the World Health Organization, without the requisite accountability. "It's not right for a private philanthropy to be one of the largest funders of multinational global health efforts," he said, adding that countries ought to be leading the charge. Suzman said the aim of the fund was not to set the agenda for the WHO or other global health groups, but to provide them with better options and data as they make key decisions.

☆ Top business leaders discuss financial innovation at the World Economic Forum
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

[The stream is slated to start at 2:30 a.m. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] Moderated by CNBC's Steve Sedgwick, top business leaders discuss at Davos, Switzerland, how financial actors respond to ongoing disruptions while keeping pace with technological advancement. Joining CNBC is Ronald P. O'Hanley, the chairman and chief executive officer at State Street Corporation, Lynn Martin, president of NYSE Group Inc., Dan Schulman, the president and chief executive officer at PayPal, Mark Suzman, the chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the minister of finance for Saudi Arabia. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

☆ Bill Gates says being rich can 'easily make you out of touch,' but he wouldn't ban others from becoming billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates said being rich can "easily make you out of touch" during a Reddit Ask Me Anything. Reddit user mspalandas asked the Microsoft cofounder if it's possible to have "ethical billionaires." Gates responded: "Being rich can easily make you out of touch. Gates invited Reddit users to pose questions related to his work at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, what he's excited about in 2023, or anything else, for his 11th AMA. The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

☆ Bill Gates says he'll sell what he owns to fund his philanthropic foundation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said Wednesday that he'll sell what he owns as money goes toward the foundation he runs with ex-wife Melinda French Gates. When asked if it was "contradictory" for him to be a humanitarian while owning so much farmland, Gates replied, "Everything I own will be sold." In his response, Gates was referring to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic foundation he established in 2000 with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. Gates created the Giving Pledge in 2010 alongside his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett, Gates' close friend and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The pledge asks the world's richest people to commit to give away most of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetimes or in their wills.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

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