Billionaire Giving 99% of his Wealth Away

You have probably heard of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates pledging to give their wealth away, but there is another Billionaire as well who is doing this (prior to death too).

Here is a link to a great doco about Manoj Bhargava who is worth about US$4billion and is going to give 99% of it away (that should still leave him with $40mil). Billions in Change (42min)

Short version (3.18min)

He invented the Free Electric. A bicycle like device which produces energy while getting you fit. One hour peddling gives 24 hours of electricity. Billions in Change
and a few other devices. He is also constructing hospitals in remote areas of India.

Billions in Change looks like it just launched and this should have a huge impact this year and onwards.

 

I want one of those bikes! For my kids

 

Make them compulsory - it'd fix the obesity epidemic and make the country's energy cleaner at the same time.

 

People will read your comment and think it's outlandish. Truth be told, we're probably less than a few generations from it being a necessity.

 

You'd need to ride the bike non stop for 18 hours to provide enough power for the average house .

 

That's pretty impressive.
Will be interesting to follow his progress and see if he follows through.

 

Its very impressive. Not sure how it compares to Buffet and Gates though.

 

Well it looks like Gates has already given away $28 Billion since 2007

Billionaires like Bill Gates give away tons of money, and this study reveals why

 

What a good bloke.

 

The problem with billionaire philanthropy -
How is one billionaire's intention/pledging to distribute his wealth according to his agenda (water, hospital as in Manoj's case)
a democratic process to help the sectors of society most in need? (note it's an intention or a pledge, it's not been carried out yet, it's in the PROCESS of being carried out)

Billionaires pledge to donate to their pet causes
but not address the sectors of society most in need in a systematic way.
There are problems that only governments can address in a systematic way -poverty, homelessness, crime, mental illness, elderly, sick, infrastructure, roads, medical etc
If we depend on eccentric billionaires to throw money at their pet causes when they feel like it and how they feel like it - it's like them throwing a bucket of water when they feel like it on a raging bushfire
Society cannot depend on a tiny handful of billionaires (count 'em on one hand ) dictating how their largesse is going to be used

Will Zuckerberg's Pledge Actually Produce Change?

 

what's alternative BG?

 

As I said, society cannot function based on the handouts of a handful of billionaires who cherrypick the causes they want to support and when and how much to give and where -
If the world depended on that, we'd all be dead by now
think sewerage, clean water, food, security, law and order - just the basic necessities and infrastructure
are billionaires supposed to provide us that????

 

You didn't answer my question so let me rephrase it - What do you suggest this guy does with his money?

Billionaires are not supposed to provide anything.

 

Connect this to a Tesla Powerwall and go off the grid. Who needs solar panels!

 

Or do both. Have the bike as a back up.

 

No, billionaires are not individually nor collectively responsible for taking care of everyone else on the planet. Of course in a perfect society, we could share everything and there would be plenty to go around and everyone will be happy and sing kumbya. That doesn't even happen in fairy tales, least of all in real life. Other stuff gets in the way. There are governments and taxes for those things. There are communities. Even in Roman times, they raised taxes to provide civil amenities alongside entrepreneurship.

It looks like this gentlemen is doing useful stuff. I don't like what seems to be detracting from his good deeds.

 

Hi Beanie Girl,
I have to disagree with your opinion. We are lucky to have people like Buffett "etc" who A) have the guts to make the money and then B) Distribute their wealth.

I am sure there are plenty of people & communities where there lives have improved .

 

There is a movie called My Name is Khan, about a Muslim Indian man whose family is affected by anti-islam issues after the 911 attacks in America. As a boy in an impoverished village, he made a pedal-powered machine to pump water out of flooded buildings.

 

I guess it would help the kids to keep the lights turned off and start to enjoy things that are not electronic related

 

I like the idea of forcing my kids into slave labour to produce electricity more haha