Hear hear. Bill Gates is trying to kill malaria. He doesn't care about having the biggest number next to his name when he dies. He wants to be the guy who's known for killing hunger in Africa.

Frankly, I'd love if Bill Gates had nearly zero at his death.

How amazing would it be for a man with that much wealth to set some aside for his children, whatever he thinks establishes their life and his duty to them, and then make it his goal to have nothing by the time he dies.

Set up foundations to kill hunger, diseases, etc. But as death approaches and the years drag on, really ramp up the giving.

"Bill Gates: Net worth $0" would make an amazing headstone for a man who spent the latter part of his life giving.

He has said that he intends to give each of his three children $10mm. That means he would be giving away over 99.9% of his wealth.

I thought about that a while back and I'm sure he'll setup some fund somewhere for them in case something happens to as a secret safety net. With their names and education alone they should be pretty well off, though.

I would give my children way more that 0.01% of my wealth if I was in his shoes. I would raise them to be respectable stewards of my wealth so they can grow the wealth and continue giving to charity long after I'm gone instead of ending everything within one generation.

True, perhaps that's the "best" way to do it - but I think I'd leave that up to my children. If they wanted to live the charitable life, work for the people so to say, then by all means.

But by default, I'd not want to put that burden on my children. In a perfect world (for me), I'd give them enough that enable them to do whatever they want, selfishly. I don't mean selfishly in the negative sense.. but from my perspective I'm giving them a gift. I want them to have a life without fear, worry, or struggle. If they wanted to live their entire life relaxed and on the beach, so be it - that's my gift to them.

If, instead, they wanted to manage billions of dollars, focusing on making money to give money like a non-profit, then great! But that's not a "gift" I'd give anyone, more of a job, from my perspective.

There's nothing to suggest Jeff Bezos cares about the contest, either. He's focused on growing his company, just as Bill Gates was 20 years ago.

This is actually a shame if Bezos doesn't do anything good or interesting with it. Seeing piles of money go back into the money making game is sad compared to what a pile of money does in the hands of a Gates or Musk.

Psst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin

Thanks I forgot about that. Now I can use cognitive dissonance to believe I am helping space flight progress and continue to feel good about my prime subscription!

Is that coat of arms for real? It looks like something straight out of a Terry Pratchett novel.

It's, like, on the other end of the spectrum of where you name your tunneling company 'Boring Company'.

Reminds me of Apple's first logo (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_first_logo.png).

Fun fact: the guy who drew it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Wayne) sold off his 10% equity in Apple for $800.

I think it's fantastic. So many logos have gone from an old-timey and colorful scheme to something simple and monochromatic. I'd be very happy to see such a revival.

Isn't he trying to compete with SpaceX in some sense?

> This probably does not change Bill Gates' enjoyment of day to day life

He is the second richest person on Earth, why be sad? =)

> tiny hand size measuring contest

what?

That would a Trump joke. He doesn't seem to be offended by penis size jokes, but seems oddly sensitive about jokes regarding the size of his (tiny) hands.

Probably a PC term for "dick waving contest"