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[psycho_snake]

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Schumacher gives $10 million in tsunami aid

BERLIN (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher is to donate $10 million to help the victims of the South Asian tsunami, his manager Willi Weber said on Tuesday.

The donation from Schumacher was announced by Weber on a German television fundraising drive that on Tuesday evening received more than 34 million euros in pledges.

"It's so unfathomable and horrible what happened to so many people," Schumacher, who turned 36 on Monday, said in comments on his website. "One cannot simply blind it out. We're suffering with them."

 

[Loki]

That's great--I commend him.


Now if only all the other thousands of multimillionaires and billionaires in the US gave .3-.5% of their net worth to this cause, we'd really have cause to celebrate.


I'd say we'd raise at least $50B that way; the fact that they're not going to is sad.

 

[psycho_snake]

Its actually sickening when you think that Paris Hilton is srending thousands on her dogs and probably hasnt donated a dollar to humans who are suffering one of the most tragic natural events. Its unfair for me just to pick on her since there are many like her, but its just disgusting how things like that happen.

 

[LakeEarth]

Dammit. I want to hate him so badly. Why does he have to do this and ruin it

 

[Macam]

I thought this was referring to Joel Schumacher, in which case, I could've forgiven him for Batman & Robin.

 

[Prine]

I found out my store donated £150,000 (around quarter of a million dollers). I read Japan have also donated alot. Ships, money, food etc

 

[Loki]

I was wrong-- it would "only" generate ~$4 billion:


The net worth of the richest 500 Americans (this is not even anywhere near all the multimillionaires in the US, just the top 500) is roughly $1.4 trillion...

1,400,000,000,000 X .003 (three-tenths of one percent) = $4,200,000,000


Still, if we extended it to include all our multimillionaires (say, people with a net worth of over $15M), we'd likely have around $6-7 billion. Very, very sad. If they all just sacrificed three measly tenths of one percent of their net worth, they'd be able to give nearly 200 times what the United States government has given (the US gave $35M so far, correct?). Crazy-- guess they'd rather buy another yacht.

 

[talking head]

a man who drives cars at high speeds gives 100x that of the most powerful man in the world?
(referring to george bush giving $10,000 out of his own pocket)

 

[Triumph]

What you're advocating smacks of communism, Loki. Perish the thought! Those poor rich people worked VERY HARD for those massive piles of cash that just sit there. Who are we mere plebians to tell them what to do with it?

 

[Loki]

What you're advocating smacks of communism, Loki. Perish the thought! Those poor rich people worked VERY HARD for those massive piles of cash that just sit there. Who are we mere plebians to tell them what to do with it?

I know you were being facetious, but I wasn't suggesting anything mandatory-- I was just saying that it would be nice if all these mega-rich people gave a similar percentage of their worth to this tragedy as others of lesser means are contributing (.3% isn't much). I guess that's expecting too much, though.

 

[mattiewheels]

How much is Bill Gates giving? Is he giving at all?

 

[Brannon]

referring to george bush giving $10,000 out of his own pocket

In Bush's defense (and you know I hate defending this guy), the President doesn't earn that much; I think 100-200 thousand/year. Then again, he only owns the entire country so it all balances out.

Somewhere I heard Australia is giving a mind-boggling $810 million. I'm looking about, but is this true?

 

[Rorschach]

In Bush's defense (and you know I hate defending this guy), the President doesn't earn that much; I think 100-200 thousand/year.

He gets 400k (Clinton changed it on his way out) and he came from a wealthy family. ;b

 

[Loki]

In Bush's defense (and you know I hate defending this guy), the President doesn't earn that much; I think 100-200 thousand/year. Then again, he only owns the entire country so it all balances out.

Somewhere I heard Australia is giving a mind-boggling $810 million. I'm looking about, but is this true?

The presidential salary was raised in 2001 to $400K per year; in addition, they get an expense account and an entertainment allowance on the order of $100K combined, iirc. Still, the big bucks come AFTER you've completed your tenure, when you earn $150-300K per speaking engagement.


And for Bush to give only $10K is ludicrous, given his wealth. You can't just go by his current salary-- he was making big money in the private sector for decades. I'd wager he's worth at least $200M.


EDIT: Beaten by Rorschach.

 

[Brannon]

Crap, the one time I try to defend him, I end up relying on bad, outdated intelligence *shifty eyez*

With that said, yeah, he needs to pony up as an example.

 

[AlphaSnake]

How much does Schumi have in the first place? Auto racing isn't the richest event the world has, so I wouldn't be surprised if Michael gave up somewhere around a 1/4 of his money. I know it's filled with sponsors out of the ass, but still...

What a guy, though. Jeez...

 

[Fresh Prince]

In Bush's defense (and you know I hate defending this guy), the President doesn't earn that much; I think 100-200 thousand/year. Then again, he only owns the entire country so it all balances out.

Somewhere I heard Australia is giving a mind-boggling $810 million. I'm looking about, but is this true?

Apparently Bush is worth $12.something million. Yes Australia is giving that much but only to Indonesia.

 

[Crow357]

Apparently Bush is worth $12.something million. Yes Australia is giving that much but only to Indonesia.

Yes, but it's not 12 million in cash. For instance, many single family farms are worth several million dollars yet they can't give because all of the money is tied up in land, buildings, etc.

 

[Interlude]

How much does Schumi have in the first place? Auto racing isn't the richest event the world has, so I wouldn't be surprised if Michael gave up somewhere around a 1/4 of his money. I know it's filled with sponsors out of the ass, but still...

What a guy, though. Jeez...

Apparently, he is the 2nd highest paid sport star. His annual salary from Ferrari is $40 mil. The rest plus commercial add up to $80 mil I guess.

http://www.forbes.com/2004/06/23/04athletesland.html

To donate $10 mil is very generous indeed.

 

[duckroll]

Look, let's not put down other people who don't donate. I think it's great that Schumacher is donating 10 million of his own money to aid. He's a generous guy, but this is CHARITY so if we start naming names and pointing fingers to put down people that don't contribute, that's not charity anymore. It's just like how everyone was calling the US thrifty, then when they put the aid, the same people turn against them again and go "THEY WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT IF WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING HAHA!", that's just sickening. Charity is of your own free will, it shouldn't be turned into a mudslinger contest.

That being said, I think Schumacher is a great person but I still can't forgive him for singlehandedly making F1 so fucking boring to watch.

 

[AlphaSnake]

Apparently, he is the 2nd highest paid sport star. His annual salary from Ferrari is $40 mil. The rest plus commercial add up to $80 mil I guess.

http://www.forbes.com/2004/06/23/04athletesland.html

To donate $10 mil is very generous indeed.

Damn...that's pretty cool.

 

[Loki]

Apparently Bush is worth $12.something million. Yes Australia is giving that much but only to Indonesia.

I refuse to believe that Bush is worth only $12M until I see proof. Wasn't he the exec of one of his father's companies for many years prior to his governorship? Besides, all that family money and he only has $12M? Crap, he probably had $12M in his trust fund as a kid. :lol The elder Bush is worth big money, iirc, on the order of hundred millions, even if Jr. is not.

 

[Fresh Prince]

I refuse to believe that Bush is worth only $12M until I see proof. Wasn't he the exec of one of his father's companies for many years prior to his governorship? Besides, all that family money and he only has $12M? Crap, he probably had $12M in his trust fund as a kid. :lol The elder Bush is worth big money, iirc, on the order of hundred millions, even if Jr. is not.

Apparently he is worth something in the region of $9 to $26 million link

 

[Shinobi]

Dammit. I want to hate him so badly. Why does he have to do this and ruin it

:lol

Look, let's not put down other people who don't donate. I think it's great that Schumacher is donating 10 million of his own money to aid. He's a generous guy, but this is CHARITY so if we start naming names and pointing fingers to put down people that don't contribute, that's not charity anymore. It's just like how everyone was calling the US thrifty, then when they put the aid, the same people turn against them again and go "THEY WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT IF WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING HAHA!", that's just sickening. Charity is of your own free will, it shouldn't be turned into a mudslinger contest.

That being said, I think Schumacher is a great person but I still can't forgive him for singlehandedly making F1 so fucking boring to watch.

Agreed 100%...except for the last part. :lol Not his fault he's so fucking brilliant.

It should be noted that one of Michael Schumacher's bodyguard was one of the victims of the tsunamis, who was vacationing in Phuket along with his two sons (both are also believed to have died). So he's certainly been touched by the events on a personal level.

 

[Meier]

President Bush owned the Texas Rangers didnt he? You'd think based on that he must be worth at least $200 million.

 

[Shinobi]

No, according to sports owners they never make money!

 

[Crow357]

President Bush owned the Texas Rangers didnt he? You'd think based on that he must be worth at least $200 million.

Didn't he lose big on that deal? I seem to remember Democrats complaining that he was a failed business owner and he shouldn't be leading the country during the 2000 election. If he did fail, he's sure not worth 200mil.

 

[duckroll]

Not his fault he's so fucking brilliant.

It should be noted that one of Michael Schumacher's bodyguard was one of the victims of the tsunamis, who was vacationing in Phuket along with his two sons (both are also believed to have died). So he's certainly been touched by the events on a personal level.

It's not his fault that he's brilliant and I blame his competitors for being weaksauce too, but still he's the main cause of it being so damn BORING! :lol

Interesting note about the bodyguard. That really sucks though, because when you have personal bodyguards and they're around all the time you probably get to know them really well as friends too. No matter how rich or powerful you are, it fucking sucks for people you're close to to just die like that.

 

[Ghost]

this is becoming a joke now, do these people not realise theres other plight in the world that actually needs the money more? I saw one charity has actually started turning down donations for SE Asia.

 

[B-B-Bomba!]

Such an overwhelming outpouring of guilt! And what's with everybody knowing how much everyone else is giving? Why would I want to know how compassionate someone else can afford to be?

It's time for the official backlash against the Tsunami charity funds. They have reached their own 16th minute.

 

[Forsete]

Ze Germans are giving 660 Million Dollars.

This is what Kofi Annan had to say about the matter.

The governmental response has been matched by unprecedented generosity from the general public. Consider the six-year-old boy in Shenyang, China, who donated his life savings of $22. Or the citizens of Sweden, a country of nine million inhabitants, who have raised more than $70 million for the relief effort in Asia, while struggling to cope with the fact that almost 2,000 of their compatriots are still missing in the tragedy.

 

[Loki]

Apparently he is worth something in the region of $9 to $26 million link

Well I stand corrected, then. Still, giving $10K when you're worth ~$20M doesn't strike me as terribly charitable.


Btw, anyone else find it funny how big the ranges are for these asset estimates, or is that typical? :lol According to the article, Bush is worth "somewhere between $9M and $26M" and Kerry is worth somewhere between "$165M and $626M"-- quite the spread, don't you think? What ever happened to transparency in government?


(also, for Kerry, it's not just that the lower bound # is his net worth alone, and the upper # with his wife's worth included, because Kerry alone is not worth anywhere NEAR $165M, as the article states that he declared his personal assets to be around $1.8M-- which is nonsense when you think about it. Most senators are millionaires many times over, particularly tenured and influential senators such as John Kerry)

 

[dskillzhtown]

Dammit. I want to hate him so badly. Why does he have to do this and ruin it

Same here...I met him a couple of years at a F1 event in Indy and he seemed nice as can be. I still think his dominance is killing F1 race-by-race.

Juan Montoya was actually nice as well, but I think it was only because I worked for his chief sponsor at the time.

It is great of Michael to do that. No matter how much he is making a year, 10 million is alot of cash.