bill gates

Gates Foundation to Focus on College Education

The Gates Foundation has announced it will spend several hundred million dollars over the next five years in an effort to double the current number of low-income students who graduate from college, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

On Tuesday at A Forum for Education in America, Bill Gates told guests, "According to our data, the number of low income and minority students graduating college ready today is 22 percent, and that figure is increasing far too slowly. It's unacceptable. We need to do better."

The Foundation will spend approximately $3 billion across all its education initiatives this year alone, including plans to reduce the dropout rate at the high school level and provide more teacher support. Experts suggest that with the failing economy, federal and state agencies with less and less to spend could start collaborating with the Foundation to improve education in America.

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Tags: big givers, BigGivers, bill gates, BillGates, college prep, CollegePrep, education, gates foundation, GatesFoundation

The Homes of America's Billionaires

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

As an adjunct to their just-released annual list of the 400 richest Americans, Forbes has included a special report on the homes of some of the billionaires who made the cut. Capping the account is of course Bill Gates, who tops the 400 with his $57 billion fortune. It's hard to say exactly how much his high-tech 66,000-sq.-ft. house on Lake Washington near Seattle is worth. The property includes a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, a domed library with two "secret" bookcase doors and a 1,000-square-foot dining room, the mag notes.

Also featured: the historic seven-story Duke-Semans mansion (above) in Manhattan owned by cab driver-turned-mogul Tamir Sapir (net worth $1.9 billion), who bought it from Doris Duke's relatives for $40 million after a single walk-through. He's now said to be spending $10 million on renovations. And then there's Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's (net worth $27 billion) 23-acre estate in Woodside, Calif., "reminiscent of a 16th-century imperial Japanese palace" which reportedly cost over $100 million to build. You can see a slideshow of these megamansions and more here.

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Doris Duke, DorisDuke, Forbes, Larry Ellison, LarryEllison, New York, NewYork, Seattle, Tamir Sapir, TamirSapir

Who's Up, Down & Out on New Forbes 400 Richest List

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Forbes just released its annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, and billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates (above) is back on top after briefly ceding first place to Warren Buffett this spring. Gates has a net worth of $57 billion as opposed to Buffett's $50 billion - $12 billion less than he had several months ago before Berkshire Hathaway's stock plummeted 15%. Buffett isn't the only one to suffer a major reversal. The year's biggest loser was Sands casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, No. 15, whose fortune fell $13 billion in the past 12 months - about $1.5 million per hour, Forbes notes - to $15 billion.

Adelson's fellow casino kingpin Kirk Kerkorian, No. 27, was another underachiever, losing $6.8 billion this year. Still, they were both better off than the 33 moguls who fell off the list altogether due to declining fortunes. On the plus side, 31 new plutocrats moved up to take their places, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 24, who makes his debut on the list with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.

Other Forbes 400 first-timers include fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt, car dealer and art collector Norman Braman, and Patrón tequila founder John Paul DeJoria. Meanwhile, New York City's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg was the year's biggest gainer, as his net worth jumped $8 billion to a total of $20 billion, snagging him the No. 8 position. Also worth noting among this year's stats:

The average net worth of Forbes 400 members is $3.9 billion.
There are 42 women on the list with an average net worth of $4.2 billion.
For the 2nd year in a row, the minimum net worth needed to make the list is $1.3 billion.
The assembled net worth of the richest Americans rose by only 2%, or $30 billion, to $1.57 trillion this year.

See the complete list here.

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Billionaires, Forbes, Forbes 400, Forbes400, mark zuckerberg, MarkZuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, MichaelBloomberg, Patron tequila, PatronTequila, sheldon adelson, SheldonAdelson, warren buffett, WarrenBuffett

The World's Biggest Billion-Heiresses To Be

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Forbes has come up with a new list of the 10 young women most likely to inherit their mega-rich fathers' fortunes - in short, the billion-heiresses of tomorrow. The final list does not merely represent the daughters of the world's richest men, however; for a true accounting, the magazine started with the daughters of the world's 150 richest people, all worth $6.4 billion or more, but then focused only on those with few or no siblings to divide the loot.

They further narrowed the field by disqualifying those with fathers like Bill Gates who have declared their intention to leave their fortunes to charity instead of their children. Also, they did not include those who have already inherited their money, like the world's richest woman, L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

No. 1 on the Forbes list is India's Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, daughter of Lakshmi Mittal, the fourth-richest person in the world with a fortune of $45 billion. The No. 2 and 3 heiresses are also the daughters of Indian tycoons, while No. 4 is Delphine Arnault-Gancia, daughter of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, the world's 13th-richest man with a fortune of $25.5 billion. And clocking in at No. 7 is championship equestrienne Georgina Bloomberg (above), daughter of New York's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: World's Biggest Heiresses

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Billionaires, delphine arnault-gancia, DelphineArnault-gancia, Forbes, Georgina Bloomberg, GeorginaBloomberg, Heiress, Lakshmi Mittal, LakshmiMittal, LVMH, Michael Bloomberg, MichaelBloomberg

Bryan Rubino Glass

by Anne Metz (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Gadgets

First Sonny and Cher. Then Justin and Britney. Then Kobe and Shaq.

It's clear that breaking up is hard to do.

As readers of the New York Times may know from yesterday's edition, the newest tiff is between famed Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly and his former employee Bryan Rubino. Chihuly is suing Rubino for stealing his ideas.

Chihuly you've no doubt heard all about. He's the guy who makes -- among other creations -- the weird sea anemone-type glass chandeliers. He lit up Venice with his installations, and he's done the lobby of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Robin Williams, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton all own Chihuly creations.

Rubino, the underdog in this story, is steadily producing lovely glassworks from his Shelton, Washington studio. This bumblebee-inspired glass vessel can be yours for $4100.

[image via Rubino Glass]

Tags: bill gates, BillGates, celebrity, cher, chihuly, kobe, rubino, shaq, sonny