Check Australian philosopher Peter Singer's latest book 'A life you can save.' Its all about who should give away money and how much.

Peter #7 - so would you give half of your salary away then? The amount has nothing to do with it. It is the fact that he is willing to give away half of what he has that makes him an extraordinary man. The amount is only only a bi-product. I am sure if he went nearly broke right now the last thing he would pull the plug on would be the foundation he and his wife run. And i dont know what you are trying to say by higlighting that they run it. Wouldnt that just be the same as donating to another charity except their contribution does not stop once the money is transfered?

They may have too much money to spend in a lifetime, even in the next generations when they pass away. But that does not say anything about the fact that he is donating HIS hard earned money to someone else so that they also can have a future.

I admire him largely for being such a samaritan. If you want to talk down a billionaire maybe look at the owners of Walmart, who compared to Bill Gates donate nothing.

Totally agree with G #21, and PC #30. I'm safe to assume that everyone posting on this story has access to a computer and internet; that puts you into a group with 25% of world population. Another 25% of the world still lives on under $1 a day. So why don't we realise that, comparatively, we are all pretty 'rich' ourselves, and do our own part to lessen the poverty/disease/endless list of ills upon the world.

Check out this site: www.kiva.org It's a website in which you can give microloans to those in the developing world. They start as low as about $NZ35, and you really can see the difference you are making in a life. And if you're concerned about losing your little investment, about a 93% chance you'll have it repaid in full, so you can relend it on to someone else, or withdraw it.

I guess we are lucky enough to be in a country that we can, in our more humble way, follow Bill Gates' great example.

Good on you Bill Gates - this is the true measure of success in my opinion.

Good on you Bill. I am a great believer in GIVING. What you sow...you reap. It is so true. I love giving...it makes you a much happier person. And don't just limit it to money...giving your time etc...even a smile, makes this world a much better place. I want my children to grow up caring about their world and the people in it :-)

In the IT industry Bill Gates is considered evil for the way he and Microsoft have done all they can to abuse their monopolistic position and make obscene amounts of money.

Now he wants to give some of his surplus money away and expects the world to forgive him? Perhaps he can buy a sainthood.

His "charitable acts" tend to have nice strings attached. Want some of our aid? Be nice to Microsoft.

Many of those "charitable acts" are also investments into companies that will likely turn a profit some time.

He is not giving away everything. He will keep a few hundred million around, as you do, so that he can afford to buy a loaf of bread once in a while.

When you have surplus billions, then giving away the amounts of money he does is far less of a sacrifice than you or I on a normal budget giving $10 to charity. You feel the difference that $10 makes far more than he feels the difference those billions make.

Good Man

#17 - actually, Bill Gates didn't exactly start with "nothing" - he came from an affluent middle class background, and over the years has managed to enlarge a initial million or so into the many billions he is now worth. That doesn't detract, though, from the efforts he and his wife are making towards solving some of the issues in the world. All power to them both, I say!

Let's try and maintain a perspective here - this is Bill and Melinda gates we're talking about, and not the company he once led, Microsoft. Just because Microsoft is aggressive and perhaps somewhat amoral in its pursuit of market dominance, doesn't detract from the good that the money Bill and Melinda are now gifting is doing.

Well said, # 18. If only more wealthy people in the world thought like Bill, instead of constantly spending insane amounts of money merely on luxuries and simply keeping it in the family to fund the lifestyles of worthless socialites (the Hiltons, anyone?). Good on him!

It doesnt take a Billionaire dollars to be a great person, all of us can give to charity.