Many of India’s wealthiest people have an unenviable reputation for their lack of interest in supporting charitable causes, which is why Azim Premji’s actions are so noteworthy.
Wipro’s billionaire founder is taking his philanthropic activities to another level by setting up an endowment trust with a billion dollars of capital, according to a report by the Economic Times.
The trust will be used to support initiatives for improving education standards and to upgrade teaching methods. Premji told Forbes about his plans for a world-class university with a large endowment during an interview in London earlier this year. The trust is said to be modeled after the Harvard Management Company, which manages Harvard University’s $27.6 billion endowment. Premji’s trust is expected to begin operating in January next year.
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According to findings released this week from a study commissioned by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and completed by consultants with Milliman, Inc., the report found that “measurable medical errors cost the U.S. economy $19.5 billion in 2008.” Approximately $17 billion was the result of providing inpatient, outpatient and prescription drug services to individuals who were affected by medical errors.
The impact of medical errors is also significant because as the study found, “$1.1 billion was from lost productivity due to related short-term disability claims, and $1.4 billion was lost from increased death rates among individuals who experienced medical errors.” As a result, actuaries “believe that reducing medical errors is an effective way to control healthcare cost trends for the commercial population,” according to results from a recent SOA survey.
What is particularly troubling is that while the study found 1.5 million measurable medical errors occurred in 2008, this “number includes only the errors that could be identified through claims data, so the total economic impact of medical errors is in fact greater than what we have reported.”
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India’s richest man — Mukesh Ambani — is all set to move into Antilia, the world’s most expensive house owned by any individual. The Ambanis are reportedly moving in to the multi-million dollar skyscraper on October 28.
It took seven years to complete the Ambani’s 27-storey dream mansion, built in the middle of downtown Mumbai. Billed as one of the most luxurious residences in the world, Antilia gets its name from the legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 27-storey building is 570 feet high. The first six levels of it is just parking space, a mega-garage where more than 160 cars can be parked. Above the parking lot is the lobby which has nine elevators. Antilia’s glass tower boasts of three helipads on the top with an air traffic control area.
The house is meant for just five people, Ambani, his wife and their three children.
What shall I say
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More than half of the 20 richest self-made women in the world are Chinese, with their average fortune beating that of US talk show host Oprah Winfrey and author JK Rowling, a list showed.
The three richest women on the planet are Chinese, led by paper-recycling queen Zhang Yin, who has a personal fortune of 5.6 billion dollars, according to the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, which compiles data on wealthy individuals.
Of the 20 richest self-made female billionaires, 11 are Chinese, with wealth averaging 2.6 billion dollars — compared with ninth-placed Winfrey’s 2.3 billion dollars, the report said.
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Only eight American billionaires are under the age of 40, and three of them cofounded Facebook.
The youngest? It isn’t who you think it is. The world’s youngest billionaire is now 26-year-old Dustin Moskovitz, who is 8 days younger than his former Harvard roommate and Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg. The social-networking site’s first chief technology officer, Moskovitz left in 2008 and started Asana, a software company that allows individuals and small companies to better collaborate.
Outside the world of the Internet, young rich list members have been able to cash in from a few other industries such as finance and sports. Hedge fund manager John Arnold, 36, got his start as an oil trader for Enron in 1995.
Five of the 20 youngest inherited their fortunes, including Scott Duncan, the only billionaire in his 20s who didn’t strike it rich with Facebook. He and his siblings assumed control of the family’s $12.4 billion pipeline empire after their father Dan Duncan’s death last March.
Worth noting about this bunch is not simply how quickly they’ve made their money but how they are choosing to spend it, not so much on luxury homes or expensive toys but on causes about which they are passionate.
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Aha. This takes some gall. Listen to this.
A Canadian accused of spamming by Facebook and fined nearly a billion dollars by a US court is trying to cash in on his infamy – by seeking a movie deal.
Quebec’s Superior Court last week upheld a November 2008 US judgment against Montreal-based Adam Guerbuez, finding him guilty of sending out more than four million spam messages via Facebook offering penis enlargements, marijuana and pornography.
The $873 million fine handed down was the largest ever award under the US’s federal ‘Can Spam’ anti-spam law.
Guerbuez himself appears unrepentant. Seemingly not one to shy from publicity, Guerbuez is also calling for offers to turn his story into a book or movie:
“If you wish to discuss a book deal or film project, you can contact me as well.”
I might not admire his methods, but I certainly do admire his gall and creativity, however warped it might be.
Source: Link
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There are over a thousand billionaires in the world, but you will be hard pressed to find someone as unique as Bill Bartman. Why?
“He’s the ONLY former homeless person and gang member ever to have made a billion dollars. That’s right, Bill went from eating out of dumpsters and living under a bridge viaduct, to having after-tax, take-home pay in a single year of more than $100 million and being listed as the 25th richest person in America.”…
Amazing, huh? Read a bit more here, and of course here’s Bill Bartman’s web site
The Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation are uniting to try to jump-start a new Green Revolution. This is not aimed at electric cars for you and me. Not aimed at cheaper electricity for Beijing or London. This is aimed at agriculture in areas where starvation and povertyabound. Gates donations alone will exceed $300-millionfor Africa and other regions.
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Source: ZDNet Blog
Billionaire’s $100m gift to poor indigenous
30 Jan 08
THE Gold Coast’s own billionaire, Clive Palmer, has thrown down the gauntlet to resource giants with a bold move to give indigenous communities a $100 million dividend from his back pocket.
Mr Palmer, chairman of Mineralogy, which owns a swag of iron ore tenements in the Pilbara, has set up a charitable foundation into which he plans to channel some of the proceeds of a $220 million-plus deal with Chinese industrial heavyweight CITIC.
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