I also want it to be clear that Gates has far from full control over the actions of his foundation, and for reasons he is unwilling or unable to act outside of the foundation, a pattern that seems to be common among the wealthy.
That’s a curious pattern, anyone has more to say about it?
In order to qualify as a non-profit, a foundation needs to have decisions made by a board, not a single individual.
I’m not sure to what extent this also plays in to vaccine production specifically, but the requirement for being a foundation at all is you need to give 5% of your endowment annually to charitable causes. If vaccine production is not being carried out by qualifying 501(c)(3) non-profits, then any money you give them doesn’t count toward that requirement.
Why is the Gates foundation a charity, as opposed to just a non-profit? If he wants to take Buffett’s money and give him a tax benefit, then it has to be charity, but for spending his own money, he doesn’t need this status.
He gets a tax benefit due to timeshifting. If he puts stock into the foundation he gets the tax benefit immediately even though the foundation will pay out that money over time. In return he has given up some control and is legally obligated to give away 5% every year.
It’s definitely not the only way. Zuck’s equivalent is an LLC, which is less tax efficient but more flexible.
That’s a curious pattern, anyone has more to say about it?
In order to qualify as a non-profit, a foundation needs to have decisions made by a board, not a single individual.
I’m not sure to what extent this also plays in to vaccine production specifically, but the requirement for being a foundation at all is you need to give 5% of your endowment annually to charitable causes. If vaccine production is not being carried out by qualifying 501(c)(3) non-profits, then any money you give them doesn’t count toward that requirement.
Why is the Gates foundation a charity, as opposed to just a non-profit? If he wants to take Buffett’s money and give him a tax benefit, then it has to be charity, but for spending his own money, he doesn’t need this status.
He gets a tax benefit due to timeshifting. If he puts stock into the foundation he gets the tax benefit immediately even though the foundation will pay out that money over time. In return he has given up some control and is legally obligated to give away 5% every year.
It’s definitely not the only way. Zuck’s equivalent is an LLC, which is less tax efficient but more flexible.