Forbes magazine has come up with a list of fictional billionaires, based on their estimates of wealth generated by the characters since their introduction. Yup, Jed Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies is worth close to nine billion now. Forrest Gump is a billionaire as well. Remember how Forrest was convinced to invest his shrimp boat money in a fruit company called Apple?
There are plenty of real billionaires out there, about 1400 by some estimates. Think about that. An exclusive but growing club of those whose personal wealth exceeds a thousand million dollars. Among the women are Oprah, the talkshow host made good, along with the inventor of Spanx. Mark Zuckerberg came up with Facbook making him a multi-billionaire in his twenties. Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world at over seventy billion, while Bill Gates has slipped to a dismal sixty-seven billion from a high of ninety-plus at one time. How does he manage to get out of bed in the morning?
I have mentioned before that a number of billionaires have committed to divesting their wealth for charitable purposes before they die, an initiative fo Warren Buffett, at fifty-plus billion. Zuckerberg and Gates have signed on, but Gates is already underway. The Gates Foundation, which receives strong input from Bill's Roman Catholic wife Melinda, is doing impressive work in Africa combatting AIDS.
Is it morally wrong for any person to accumulate such wealth? Are we okay with individuals making the choices about their acts of compassion? What about Jesus' cautions about storing up treasures and the problems of the rich getting into heaven?
I wouldn't say it's morally wrong, and to the best of my knowledge, none of the people you mention did anything illegal to amass their fortunes. I'm all for equality of opportunity, too.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's nice to see them giving back in the ways you mention. In realistic terms, too: what could you possibly do with all of that money, after everything was taken care of? Spending it, Carnegie-style, would be something I hope appealed to people.
I can't imagine having and managing that much money (but that's what we have investment firms for...) but I love it when I hear of rich people setting up foundations to help others help themselves ... Melinda Gates has a special project helping girls to get a proper education in third world countries so they can change the poverty cycle going forward into the next generation. And Bill Gates matches donations to Rotary International's Polio Plus program, which has gone a long way to eradicatinmg polio around the world.
ReplyDeleteJesus didn't say it was impossible for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of heaven - just very difficult... it's the love of money, not the having of it, and the "storing up in barns", rather than the sharing of it, that is the root of evil... money can be an incredibly good tool for helping others.
There are a couple of names you mentioned that became billionares so quickly they couldn't comprehend it at first. The online, or .com billionares happened quickly "went viral" so to speak. Unlike Conrad Black,who had to really work at back door dealings that often devistated many people all in the effort to get even richer.
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