Bonum Certa Men Certa

Philanthropic Investments in Massive Chains of Retailers

Summary: The Gates Foundation starts funding an enterprise of sports shops

TO MR. GATES' credit, his portfolio is very prolific. Using his supposedly-philanthropic foundation, he maintains pharmaceutical patent investments [1, 2], tobacco investments, investments in alcoholic beverages, petroleum investments, investments in experimental and controversial crops, and even investments in news/media, which of course loves thanking Gates for all that money. Glamourising this Rockefeller-esque publicity stunt is part of this gratitude and to make matters ever more optimal, Gates need not even pay tax; being such a major investor even in governments, politicians can in turn be persuaded to buy from Microsoft and have this dependence/lock-in cascade down to businesses and homes.



“In some professionals' view, the Gates Foundation acts as a tax-exempt investment vehicle...”The above may seem like a mouthful, but the extensive evidence is all there and Gates Foundation critics -- although silenced or ignored for suspicion of "jealousy" for the most -- do exist and the press recognises some that are highly renowned (see The Hindu and the New York Times for example). In some professionals' view, the Gates Foundation acts as a tax-exempt investment vehicle, where medical drugs ("charity") are used to make returns in the form of American pharmaceutical patents Gates invests billions in. It as well may be seen as a long-term investment.

And in light of all this, we present the latest news about the Gates Foundation, which is now investing in a chain of sports shops.

The purchase is not the first by Gates in a small British retailer. In May 2008, he took a small stake in Carpetright.


More here:

The Microsoft tycoon made the acquisition through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organisation created to “help all people lead healthy, productive lives”.


How can this be spun as philanthropy? Are sports inherently about goodwill? This is just plain commerce (investment in a "retailer" as Murdoch's press puts it).

More information can be found in:

  1. Gates raises stake in JJB Sports
  2. Microsoft's Gates builds JJB stake


Is there something that we miss in this analysis?

"My background is finance and accounting. As a socially conscious venture capitalist and philanthropist, I have a very good understanding of wealth management and philanthropy. I started my career in 1967 with the IRS as a specialist in taxation covering many areas of the tax law including the so-called legal loopholes to charitable giving. […] However, the Gates Buffet foundation grant is nothing more than a shell game in which control of assets for both Gates and Buffet remain the same. […] The only difference is that the accumulation of wealth by these two will be much more massive because they will no longer have to pay any taxes."

The Gates and Buffet Foundation Shell Game



"Gates' gimmick of becoming a philantropist repeats the Rockefeller scam almost one to one a century later."

--Dark cloud over good works of Gates Foundation

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