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Tim Cook has joined the list of exceptionally wealthy people who have pledged to give away their money to charity. Cook has pledged all of his estimated $785 million besides payment for his 10-year-old nephew's education.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/apples...tune-220612211--finance.html?.gg_forward=true

EDIT: Please quit with the comments about Bill Gates having more money to donate in a competitive tone or posting like there's something questionable for you to try and reveal about pledging money to charity in addition to his private work

Fortune magazine cited the head of the world's largest technology corporation as saying he planned to donate his estimated $785 million fortune to charity - after paying for his 10-year-old nephew's college education.

"You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripples for change," Cook told the magazine.

Fortune estimated Cook's net worth, based on his holdings of Apple stock, at about $120 million. He also holds restricted stock worth $665 million if it were to be fully vested.

The 54-year-old CEO's revelation in Fortune's lengthy profile of him is an example of the increasingly public philanthropy of the world's richest people.

Billionaire financier Warren Buffett is encouraging the very wealthy to give away at least half their worth in their lifetimes through the "Giving Pledge," whose website lists such luminaries as Microsoft Corp's <MSFT.O> Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Inc <FB.O> and Oracle Corp's <ORCL.N> Larry Ellison.

Cook, who is not listed on the website, is known as an intensely private person who shuns the spotlight on philanthropy.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

He has and will have way more than that

 

[BeforeU]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

 

[AbsolutBro]

Good for him. More million and billionaires should do this.

 

[Cheebo]

Love seeing guys like this do it. It's more of. Trend now. Bill , Gates, George Lucas, Tim Cook, etc.

Glad it's a trend.

 

[Alavard]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

I wasn't aware it was a competition.

 

[Social]

after paying for his 10-year-old nephew's college education.

That's the dumbest unrelated thing I've ever read. As if paying for some family member's education matters when owning 700mil.
Probably a joke.

 

[Cheebo]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

Why wouldn't he do it? He loves a surprisingly frugal life from all pieces on him. Does not have a huge house, sports cars, etc. he doesn't seem interested in spending money like crazy. And he has no kids he'd leave it to.


And it's not a competiton.George Lucas is devoting his life now into putting every penny he has earned into charity. Is he somehow "worse" because he didn't make as much as Bill Gates?

 

[Alienous]

Good man.

If I ever made that much money I'd give a cool $5 mil to each of my parents for raising me, keep $5 mil in back-up reserve and everything else would be donated.

So give me money. I'm a cool guy.

 

[Zeppu]

That's a surprisingly low net worth for the CEO of Apple actually.

But still, awesome. Good to see more people signing 'The Giving Pledge' or equivalent.

 

[BeforeU]

I wasn't aware it was a competition.

It should be.

Why wouldn't he do it? He loves a surprisingly frugal life from all pieces on him. Does not have a huge house, sports cars, etc. he doesn't seem interested in spending money like crazy. And he has no kids he'd leave it to.

So did Steve Jobs except the kids part, he also had normal life. Not sure how much he contributed though.

 

[diggmcbadass]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

He is cheating though. He's been giving away money for years and is only becoming richer.

 

[AbsolutBro]

That's a surprisingly low net worth for the CEO of Apple actually.

But still, awesome. Good to see more people signing 'The Giving Pledge' or equivalent.

More than likely, just like almost any other CEO, there is more money stashed overseas that is not getting included in that total.

 

[Cheebo]

It should be.



So did Steve Jobs except the kids part, he also had normal life. Not sure how much he contributed though.

Jobs never promised to give all his wealth to charity. Although that is what his wife is now doing with his wealth.

Tim Cook isn't going to say this and then refuse to. That makes no sense. He is a frugal guy with no heirs. Of course he is going to give it away.

 

[Angelus Errare]

So did Steve Jobs except the kids part, he also had normal life. Not sure how much he contributed though.

Didn't Steve own 4 Mercedes AMG models? I wouldn't consider that the same as living a frugal life.

 

[Dabanton]

If I had that sort of money I'd pay for deserving kids to attend college in my lifetime.

Seeing them achieve would be amazing. Imo giving money to some charities means more of it will go on 'admin' and vanity materials. Than on the people who need it.

 

[Cheebo]

Didn't Steve own 4 Mercedes AMG models? I wouldn't consider that the same as living a frugal life.

Yeah. Jobs house was surprisingly normal for some one of his wealth but the guy loved himself his sports cars. Let's not forget that massive yacht he paid to get built.

Tim Cook isn't that type of guy as far as we have seen.

 

[Data West]

Didn't Steve own 4 Mercedes AMG models? I wouldn't consider that the same as living a frugal life.

I don't know, that sounds pretty frugal for being Steve Jobs.

 

[jtb]

I'm surprised Cook isn't a billionaire.

 

[Kenshin001]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

I often wonder about this. Like Gates has pledged to give away all his fortune or something but he gives away a couple of hundred million here and there. With $80 billion his fortune must just grow exponentially. Like he could give away a billion a year and still make that back up couldn't he?

 

[shira]

Tim Cook has joined the list of exceptionally wealthy people who have pledged to give away their money to charity. Cook has pledged all of his estimated $785 million besides payment for his 10-year-old nephew's education.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/apples...tune-220612211--finance.html?.gg_forward=true

It's kind of sad that a Havard 4 year degree is the same price as 17 Apple Edition watches

 

[Cheebo]

To be fair to Jobs he did give tons to charity. He just refused to tell anyone when he was alive:
http://mobile.news.com.au/finance/m...not-doing-enough/story-e6frfmd9-1226650636880

 

[Zeppu]

I often wonder about this. Like Gates has pledged to give away all his fortune or something but he gives away a couple of hundred million here and there. With $80 billion his fortune must just grow exponentially. Like he could give away a billion a year and still make that back up couldn't he?

Spend $80 billion today, and you have $0 tomorrow. Spend a couple of hundred million every year and you'll have $80 billion forever. Investing and charity aren't mutually exclusive. He can do much more good by spending (that massive) interest slowly than blowing his wad all in one go.

To be fair to Jobs he did give tons to charity. He just refused to tell anyone when he was alive:
http://mobile.news.com.au/finance/m...not-doing-enough/story-e6frfmd9-1226650636880

Just like I do in fact. I've given $1trillion so far, but shh, don't tell anyone until I'm dead.

 

[Acinixys]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future. If you have 800 million why cant you donate 10 million a year?

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

 

[Alienous]

I'm surprised Cook isn't a billionaire.

I can't fathom how the CEO of a $700 billion dollar company could be anything less than a billionaire.

I can think of one potential reason pertaining to Tim Cook and potential internal politics but I hope that isn't the case. They sure as hell aren't spreading the wealth to the factories.

 

[John Dunbar]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

only if you go by the total sum given to charity, which would only be another way to worship the obscenely wealthy. if you go by how big of a percentage of their wealth somebody gives or by time dedicated to charity there are certainly many people who have gates beat.

 

[Two Words]

That's the dumbest unrelated thing I've ever read. As if paying for some family member's education matters when owning 700mil.
Probably a joke.

What are you upset about?

 

[Konka]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future. If you have 800 million why cant you donate 10 million a year?

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

Why don't you donate all the money you spend on frivolous things like movies, music, cellphones and games to charity? It's not like you need those to live.

 

[GalacticMouse]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future. If you have 800 million why cant you donate 10 million a year?

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

See Zeppu's post...

Spend $80 billion today, and you have $0 tomorrow. Spend a couple of hundred million every year and you'll have $80 billion forever. Investing and charity aren't mutually exclusive. He can do much more good by spending (that massive) interest slowly than blowing his wad all in one go.

That's a pretty good look at why you don't give your whole fortune away at once.

I can't fathom how the CEO of a $700 billion dollar company could be anything less than a billionaire.

I can think of one potential reason pertaining to Tim Cook and potential internal politics but I hope that isn't the case. They sure as hell aren't spreading the wealth to the factories.

He hasn't been CEO that long and he didn't get his start within the company. Comparing him to someone like Gates or Jobs is disingenuous because both of them grew their companies from the start and a lot of their wealth comes from that growth because a large amount of their wealth is in their company stock. If Tim Cook succeeds in continuing Apple's growth or finds another product category that can drive the kind of meteoric rise that the iPod did for Apple in the early 2000s, you'll see his net worth skyrocket as well.

 

[reKon]

I feel like some people in this thread have no idea what they're actually trying to argue, lol

 

[Fliesen]

It should be.
.

no, it shouldn't.

What you are thinking of, i would simply consider proper taxation.

Anything post-taxes should be free of any "debt-to-society" and people should of course have the option to donate it - if they choose to do so, but neither should it be frowned upon to solely spread that wealth among their heirs.

 

[benjipwns]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

If they cash in all their assets at once they drop in value, especially if all the billionaires did it at once, Bill Gates doesn't have $80 billion sitting in a bank account, it's an estimate of what he could sell his assets for. (Plus who would be buying them?!?)

 

[Cheebo]

I am pretty sure Bill Gates would be offended if someone called him better since he has more to donate.

George Lucas "only" having 4 billion to give away doesn't make his charity contributions of his full wealth worse than Bill Gates. Tim Cook "only" having 800 million won't make his any worse either.

Giving all your wealth to charity is just as commendable in all these cases.

 

[BeforeU]

I often wonder about this. Like Gates has pledged to give away all his fortune or something but he gives away a couple of hundred million here and there. With $80 billion his fortune must just grow exponentially. Like he could give away a billion a year and still make that back up couldn't he?

wtf? he isn't an idiot for just giving out money.
He has built an organization, bill and melinda gates foundation. They don't just give out money to random poor people. They look for the cause of why the country is poor, why they health system is messed up, why are people dying. And they try to solve those problems and get rid of it from its root. Education, vaccines, sanitization are some of the things they are doing right now.

and btw so far he has given out almost 30billion. Not sure what you mean by few million here and there. And he has already said, 90% or his wealth will be given out and not his kids.

 

[mackattk]

The nephew will be fine no matter what happens. Born with a silver spoon and probably has access to some of the highest quality education money can buy.

 

[Zeppu]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future. If you have 800 million why cant you donate 10 million a year?

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

Because it doesn't make a difference. With investments that money can grow and they'll have more. Getting the money now means you will have less money in the future. Charities will still be needing money in 50 years, what's the hurry?

wtf? he isn't an idiot for just giving out money.
He has built an organization, bill and melinda gates foundation. They don't just give out money to random poor people. They look for the cause of why the country is poor, why they health system is messed up, why are people dying. And they try to solve those problems and get rid of it from its root. Education, vaccines, sanitization are some of the things they are doing right now.

and btw so far he has given out almost 30billion. Not sure what you mean by few million here and there. And he has already said, 90% or his wealth will be given out and not his kids.

And this. It's the monetary version of 'give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'.

Look at the Nobel Prize Foundation. A silly person would've given that money away in one go. Nobel instead set up a fund and they've been giving Nobel Prizes every year for over a century.

 

[Cheebo]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future. If you have 800 million why cant you donate 10 million a year?

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

Many do. George Lucas put all of the cash he got from Disney after the sale into charity immediately.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

I guess it's better than nothing. But at the same time, I would understand the decision not to go down the route of sending random children to college for free with this wealth. I wish he just made his wealth into a scholarship that people could compete for which would keep the landscape fair. But we well see. Bill Gates is still the biggest charity workers alive.

 

[DOWN]

That's the dumbest unrelated thing I've ever read. As if paying for some family member's education matters when owning 700mil.
Probably a joke.

Not a joke. You don't say you are leaving it all for charitable causes and then spring that condition on it secretly. If he wants to leave money for a relative, of course he isn't going to say he'll leave all his money for charity as it would seem misleading to not mention any other placements he wants for the money.

 

[Armaros]

I often wonder about this. Like Gates has pledged to give away all his fortune or something but he gives away a couple of hundred million here and there. With $80 billion his fortune must just grow exponentially. Like he could give away a billion a year and still make that back up couldn't he?

You couldn't spend 80 billion in one sitting and get 80 billion dollars worth of effective charity.

You have to figure out what to spend it on and its effectiveness.

 

[Caronte]

I will believe it when I see it. Still no one will ever beat the almighty Bill Gates and his wife when it comes to charity.

Well if he can't beat them he should just burn it all, otherwise why bother right?

 

[Akuun]

Let's hope the charity is actually a good charity and not one of those fuckers who spend 1% of their donations on actual charity work.

 

[Eye for an Eye]

And this is any different than what some of the first millionaires in this country started?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospel_of_Wealth

 

[faridmon]

Good on him. For all the flak people give to the riches there are few who actually cares.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Good for him. After a certain point and setting aside money so your immediate family members in need plus some modest inheritance for your kids, how many zeros your money has is just a number. It's better used by someone else less fortunate.

 

[Hale-XF11]

Good stuff. I wonder how trustworthy the charities are that he's chosen.

 

[Rootbeer]

The list of the ultra rich doing this is slowly growing, which is great... I just wonder if it will have much impact though. Who will actually be seeing this money? It needs to be used in ways that benefit all of society, hopefully not lining the wrong pockets.

 

[freakzilla149]

Don't pledge to give it away, what kind of bollocks is that? Start now, you got so much that you could give away most of it and it would make no difference to your life.

 

[titiklabingapat]

The list of the ultra rich doing this is slowly growing, which is great... I just wonder if it will have much impact though. Who will actually be seeing this money? It needs to be used in ways that benefit all of society, hopefully not lining the wrong pockets.

There was a study or several studies that says that money given to charities that directly give money to the poor have the most ROI so the solution seems simple. Just give money directly to the less unfortunate and let them spend it as they see fit.Most of it will be spent on food, shelter, medicine and education.

Use some money to run your own charity or partner with a reputable one to ensure that this happens though.

 

[entremet]

Why dont these ultra rich people donate all this money NOW, instead of some indeterminate future. If you have 800 million why cant you donate 10 million a year?

Its not like any human being need a billion dollars to live

Not all of their wealth is readily liquid. Also taxes. I"m not kidding either.