Bill Gates joins 26 newcomers on list of 50 biggest donors
February 14, 2023 GMTAs the ranks of America’s super wealthy grow, the roster of major philanthropists is expanding to include not-so-typical megadonors — among them, a professional clarinetist, a Ph.D. in meat science, and a lawyer who regularly argues before the U.S.
Bill Gates made 2022′s biggest charitable donation
December 30, 2022 GMTThe Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the 10 largest charitable gifts announced by individuals or their foundations totaled nearly $9.3 billion in 2022. The contributions went to large, well-established institutions, three of them private foundations and three universities to support environmental sustainability, children’s mental health, and stem-cell research.
Gates Foundation pledges $7B for health, farming in Africa
November 17, 2022 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Bill Gates, on a visit to Kenya, has announced his foundation will spend $7 billion to improve health, gender equality and farming in Africa.
The new pledge will be spent over the next four years and is in addition to existing Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funding to strengthen health systems across the continent.
Arizona county quick to bat down election misinformation
November 15, 2022 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — When the Republican candidate for Arizona governor accused the state’s most populous county of “slow-rolling” the vote count to skew early election results, a local official fired back.
Jeff Bezos says he will give away most of his fortune
November 14, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he will give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime, becoming the latest billionaire to pledge to donate much of his vast fortune.
Bezos, whose “real-time” worth Forbes magazine estimates at roughly $124.1 billion, made the announcement in a joint CNN interview with his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez that was released on Monday.
Gates Foundation prods UN, honors inspiration as Goalkeepers
September 21, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates combined characteristic optimism with sobering questions about persistent gender inequality and hunger at an event focused on reaching global development goals that the Gateses' foundation convened on the sidelines of the U.N.
Bill Gates: Technological innovation would help solve hunger
September 13, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Bill Gates says the global hunger crisis is so immense that food aid cannot fully address the problem. What’s also needed, Gates argues, are the kinds of innovations in farming technology that he has long funded to try to reverse the crisis documented in a report released Tuesday by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Christie’s to auction Paul Allen’s art trove, valued at $1B+
August 26, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Some 150 artworks from the collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen will be auctioned at Christie's in New York this fall and are expected to bring in more than $1 billion in total, Christie's and Allen's estate announced Friday.
Gates Foundation adds Gayle, Dhawan as independent trustees
August 19, 2022 GMTAs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to expand its governance, it announced Thursday that it has added two trustees to its board. Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College, and Ashish Dhawan, founder and CEO of the Convergence Foundation in India, will join the three other outside board members named in January: Strive Masiyiwa, Baroness Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, Thomas J.
Gates eyes partnership with South Korea over global health
August 16, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Bill Gates on Tuesday called for South Korea to become more involved in international efforts to prevent infectious diseases like COVID-19 as he stressed the need for the world to be better prepared for the next pandemic.
Climate bill: Could coal communities shift to nuclear?
August 13, 2022 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A major economic bill headed to the president has “game-changing” incentives for the nuclear energy industry, experts say, and those tax credits are even more substantial if a facility is sited in a community where a coal plant is closing.
Bill Gates gives $20 billion to stem ‘significant suffering’
July 13, 2022 GMTBill Gates, concerned about the “significant suffering” caused by global setbacks including the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Wednesday that he will donate $20 billion to his foundation so it can increase its annual spending.
North Dakota AG clears farmland purchase tied to Bill Gates
June 30, 2022 GMTFARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota's attorney general has found the sale of a couple thousand acres of prime farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates complies with a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms because the land is being leased back to farmers.
North Dakota farmland purchase tied to Gates stirs emotion
June 23, 2022 GMTFARGO, N.D. (AP) — The sale of a couple thousand acres of prime North Dakota farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates has stirred emotions over a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms and raised questions about whether the billionaire shares the state’s values.
Bill Gates says he has COVID, experiencing mild symptoms
May 11, 2022 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said Tuesday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.
Via Twitter, the billionaire philanthropist said he will isolate until he is again healthy.
What Musk’s past tweets reveal about Twitter’s next owner
April 27, 2022 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Three days before Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter, the world's richest man tweeted a photo of Bill Gates and used a crude term to make fun of his belly.
What Musk’s past tweets reveal about Twitter’s next owner
April 26, 2022 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Three days before Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter, the world's richest man tweeted a photo of Bill Gates and used a crude sexual term to make fun of his belly.
Playful, aggressive and often juvenile, Musk's past tweets show how he has used social media to craft his public image as a brash billionaire unafraid to offend.
Final Arizona election report finds no county data issues
March 24, 2022 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — A report that was among the final items on the Arizona Senate's partisan review of the 2020 election prompted by former President Donald Trump's loss has found no evidence that ballot tabulation equipment used by the state's most populous county was connected to the internet.
Pakistan honors Bill Gates for efforts on poverty, disease
February 17, 2022 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan awarded Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates its second-highest civilian honor on Thursday, in recognition of his work to alleviate poverty and diseases like polio and tuberculosis.
Philanthropy 50: List of America’s top 50 donors of 2021
February 8, 2022 GMTThese are the donors who gave the most in 2021, according to the Philanthropy 50, an annual ranking compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. A searchable database with more information on the donors and their beneficiaries is available at philanthropy.com.
Gates, French Gates top list of biggest U.S. charity donors
February 8, 2022 GMTA handful of Americans donated at least $1 billion to charity last year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2021.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates topped the list, pledging $15 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a huge player in global health and American education.
Japan’s Mitsubishi, energy body join Gates’ nuclear project
January 27, 2022 GMTTOKYO (AP) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency have signed an agreement to participate in a next-generation nuclear energy project with TerraPower, a company started by Bill Gates.
Gates Foundation expands board following Bill, Melinda split
January 26, 2022 GMTThe Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it will add four members to its board of trustees, a first for the Seattle-based philanthropic giant whose decision making has been guided by very few hands since its incorporation in 2000.
German leader champions new tack on climate at Davos event
January 19, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — New German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Wednesday for a “paradigm shift” in the way the world approaches climate policy, saying his country would leverage its presidency of the Group of Seven industrial nations this year to push for standards to fight global warming.
Majority of US states pursue nuclear power for emission cuts
January 18, 2022 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — As climate change pushes states in the U.S. to dramatically cut their use of fossil fuels, many are coming to the conclusion that solar, wind and other renewable power sources might not be enough to keep the lights on.
COVID, China, climate: Online Davos event tackles big themes
January 15, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced the World Economic Forum's annual meeting of world leaders, business executives and other heavyweights to go virtual for the second year in a row, but organizers still hope to catapult the world into thinking about the future with a scaled-down online version this week.
Microsoft opens harassment investigation sought by investors
January 14, 2022 GMTMicrosoft said Thursday it is opening an inquiry into how it responds to workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination, including its handling of allegations about co-founder Bill Gates.
The review is a response to pressure from Microsoft investors.
$15B from Gates, French Gates tops 2021 biggest gift list
January 4, 2022 GMTIt was a healthy year for big gifts to charitable causes in 2021, a year that saw one of the largest multibillion-dollar contributions in more than a decade, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy tally.
Scientist, enforcer, high-flyer: 3 women put a mark on tech
January 4, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Three bright and driven women with ground-breaking ideas made significant — if very different — marks on the embattled tech industry in 2021.
Frances Haugen, Lina Khan and Elizabeth Holmes — a data scientist turned whistleblower, a legal scholar turned antitrust enforcer and a former Silicon Valley high-flyer turned criminal defendant — all figured heavily in a technology world where men have long dominated the spotlight.
Insider Q&A: Arjuna Capital’s Natasha Lamb
December 20, 2021 GMTMANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, Mass. (AP) — When highly profitable companies like Microsoft urge shareholders to reject an activist investor's proposal to change corporate policy, investors almost always abide.
Giving Pledge adds 14 billionaires to philanthropist list
December 14, 2021 GMTThe Giving Pledge announced Tuesday that 14 more billionaires, including the CEOs of DoorDash and Pinterest, had promised in 2021 to donate more than half their fortunes, raising the total to 231 philanthropists from 28 countries.
Gates, French Gates offer post-divorce philanthropic plans
December 1, 2021 GMTBill Gates and Melinda French Gates say they will still work with the Giving Pledge, the campaign they co-founded with Warren Buffett in 2010 to encourage billionaires to donate the majority of their wealth through philanthropy.
Bill Gates venture picks Wyoming city for sodium nuke plant
November 16, 2021 GMTCHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A small city in the top U.S. coal-mining state of Wyoming will be home to a Bill Gates-backed experimental nuclear power project near a coal-fired power plant that will soon close, officials announced Tuesday.
UK courts green investment to fuel carbon-cutting plans
October 19, 2021 GMTLONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom announced plans Tuesday to stop installing home heating that uses fossil fuels by 2035 as the government hosted a meeting aimed at attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment for green projects in Britain.
Microsoft says it warned Bill Gates about flirting in 2008
October 18, 2021 GMTREDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft executives in 2008 warned Bill Gates to stop sending flirtatious emails to a female employee but dropped the matter after he told them he would stop, the company revealed Monday.
Financial planner picked to fill Democratic House vacancy
October 18, 2021 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Democrat Sarah Liguori will fill a vacant seat in the Arizona House of Representatives, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors decided Monday.
Liguori will hold the District 28 seat formerly held by Aaron Lieberman, a Democrat who resigned to focus on his campaign for governor.
US House panel examines Arizona election review effects
October 7, 2021 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Democratic members of a U.S. House committee on Thursday questioned Arizona officials on the potential damage that a partisan review of the state's 2020 election results had on trust in American elections.
More than a statue: Cooper explores the Vanderbilt legacy
September 30, 2021 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — When Anderson Cooper was 6 years old, his father took him to see the statue of Cornelius “The Commodore” Vanderbilt near New York's Grand Central Terminal. The transportation magnate was America's richest man when he died in 1877, the 19th century equivalent of Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates.
County cuts deal to end fight over Arizona Senate subpoena
September 18, 2021 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Board members overseeing Arizona’s most populous county reached an agreement Friday evening with the Republican-controlled state Senate that will end a standoff over a Senate demand that they hand over computer routers for use in an unprecedented partisan election review.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates finalize their divorce
August 3, 2021 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — The divorce of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates has been finalized.
The Microsoft co-founder and his wife announced in May they were ending their 27-year marriage and on Monday a King County Superior Court judge signed the dissolution decree.
Gates Foundation sets 2-year, post-divorce power share trial
July 7, 2021 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates will continue to work together as co-chairs of their foundation even after their planned divorce. However, if after two years Gates and French Gates decide they cannot continue in their roles, French Gates will resign her positions as co-chair and trustee, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday.
Leak of billionaires’ tax data draws GOP outcry over privacy
June 10, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress are alarmed by the leak of confidential IRS data to the investigative news organization ProPublica, enabling it to reveal that famous billionaires including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg paid little in U.S.
Bill Gates company to build reactor at Wyoming coal plant
June 2, 2021 GMTCHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A next-generation, small nuclear plant will be built at a soon-to-be retired coal-fired power plant in Wyoming in the next several years, business and government officials said Wednesday.
Report: Microsoft investigated Gates before he left board
May 17, 2021 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Board members at Microsoft Corp. made a decision in 2020 that it wasn't appropriate for its co-founder Bill Gates to continue sitting on its board as they investigated the billionaire’s prior romantic relationship with a female Microsoft employee that was deemed inappropriate, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Nebraska launches ‘beef passport’ program for meat eating
May 5, 2021 GMTOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts ramped up his crusade for the meat industry on Wednesday by endorsing a new “beef passport” program to promote meat eating, a few weeks after SEATTLE (AP) — Bill and Melinda Gates said Monday that they are divorcing but would keep working together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest charitable foundations in the world...Bill and Melinda Gates announce they are getting divorced
May 3, 2021 GMT
The top 10 audiobooks on Audible.com
March 9, 2021 GMTNonfiction
1. Beyond Order by Jordan B. Peterson, narrated by the author (Penguin Audio)
The top 10 audiobooks on Audible.com
March 2, 2021 GMTNonfiction
1. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, narrated by the author (Random House Audio) ...
The top 10 audiobooks on Audible.com
February 23, 2021 GMTNonfiction
1. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, narrated by the author (Random House Audio) ...
Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows
February 19, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows:
ABC’s “This Week” — White House press secretary Jen Psaki; Rep...
Review: Bill Gates offers a hopeful take on climate change
February 17, 2021 GMT“How to Avoid Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need,” by Bill Gates (Knopf)...
Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows
December 11, 2020 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows:
ABC’s “This Week” — Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn; Gov...
Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows
September 19, 2020 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows:
ABC’s “This Week” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif...
Bill Gates Sr., father of Microsoft co-founder, dies at 94
September 16, 2020 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — William H. Gates II, a lawyer and philanthropist best known as the father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has died at 94...
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak slams YouTube for scam videos
July 23, 2020 GMTSAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is launching a legal attack against Google's YouTube video site for allowing con artists to use him as a pawn in a Bitcoin scam believed to have heisted millions of dollars from people around the world...
Experts say Twitter breach troubling, undermines trust
July 16, 2020 GMTHONG KONG (AP) — A breach in Twitter’s security that allowed hackers to break into the accounts of leaders and technology moguls is one of the worst attacks in recent years and may shake trust in a platform politicians and CEOs use to communicate with the public, experts said Thursday...