Buffett's Big 'Oops!'
Warren Buffet's decision to make a mega-donation to charity was followed by a mega-gaffe, though one that was quickly remedied.
The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and the world's second-richest man, is giving almost all his fortune to charity, with the bulk of that, some $30 billion, earmarked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett's overall philanthropic gesture is thought to be the largest ever.
He and the Gateses sat down for an interview Monday with Buffett's close friend, PBS talk show host Charlie Rose.
And Rose says the most excitement came when the session ended.
"We were all walking down. I was gonna say goodbye to them at the sidewalk," he told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Monday. "And Warren turns to me and says, 'I forget the documents!' I said, 'Where are they?' And he said, 'I left them in the studio.' So, I ran back to the studio and brought back the documents and Bill said, 'Check and make sure I (Rose) didn't change the beneficiary!'
The Charlie Rose Foundation, with assets of $30 billion, suddenly came into existence, Rose joked.
He described the personal relationship between Buffett and Gates, the head of Microsoft and world's wealthiest man, as "incredible. It's one of the great friendships. Somebody said in the paper today that Warren needed somebody as smart as Bill to talk to and Bill needed somebody as smart as Warren to talk to.
"They vacation together. I've been with them when they were playing bridge, and that's interesting to watch. I've been with them when they were playing poker together. It's not father-son at all. Bill has a father, Warren has children. It's just two men who have grown to like each other, admire each other, and now they have this unique opportunity because Bill does well, what Warren didn't want to do, and now Warren has a legacy that will affect millions of people."Rose says he knew of Buffett's intentions for months, but couldn't say anything, adding, "There's always been a question about philanthropy with Warren. Bill, early in his life, decided to go (the charity route), probably influenced by Warren, but Warren had decided what he does best is make money, and he was just piling up money, and at his death was going to give it away and his wife, Suzie, would be the person who was the executor of the foundation. Then, she tragically died in 2004.
"So, I think, Warren began to rethink (his plans). He had always, because they were good friends, admired Bill and Melinda. It's an important component of this to understand what Melinda Gates does. This is a partnership. She, in fact, spends more time there (at the Gates foundation) than Bill does, although Bill in two years will be leaving (the day-to-day operations of) Microsoft."
Rose calls this a "great story. The possibilities (of what they can do) now, and the lives they can save, are incredible, and Bill Gates can, if he lives -- he's 50 years old -- another 20 years, 'till he's 70, will probably save millions of lives because of vaccinations, because of the progress they're making. Not only that, they're getting a lot of medicine to people that is now already in existence but the people are not receiving, because of logistics."
How does Rose see Buffett and the Gateses working together in philanthropy?
"Warren believes that Bill is important, because Bill knows how to give away money," Rose observed. "Warren believes what he should be doing is making money. Every dollar that he makes now, some will be given, a large share of it will go to the Gates Foundation, so he's happy about that. He will become a trustee, and there'll now be three trustees, Bill, Melinda and Warren, but Warren doesn't see any principle role. They will, obviously, talk, but they talk all the time anyway."
Buffett could have given his money to any organization, but shed light in the Gates interview on why he chose the Gates foundation, saying, "There's none that are in the same class, in my view, as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. and not just because of size. They really have looked at the world without regard to gender, color, religion, geography, and they said, 'How can we do the most good for the most people? … I've seen Bill and Melinda do what they've done with their foundation. They've done it with their own money; they've poured themselves into it. Their decisions are great, their goals are similar to mine, so the time is now.
Bill Gates told Rose, "It's a very exciting time, with the advances in medicine and the other things we can do to relieve poverty. We've been making good progress, and with the doubling of resources (that Buffett's donation to the Gates foundation represents), we think our impact can even more than double."