Top billionaires hold secret meeting in New York

Machinamentum · 05-21-2009, 08:03 PM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30851839/ns/us_news-giving/

Top billionaires meet in secret

In a quiet meeting closed to the news media and the public, Bill Gates, David Rockefeller Sr., Oprah Winfrey and other leading philanthropists met in New York this month to discuss ways to promote efforts to solve growing social problems in America and abroad.

Together, the philanthropists in the room have committed a total of more than $72.5 billion to charitable causes since 1996, according to Chronicle of Philanthropy tallies.

The unusual event was held May 5 at Rockefeller University and was organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Among the high-profile participants were Ted Turner, Warren E. Buffett, George Soros and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. (All of those philanthropists have appeared at one time on The Chronicle’s ranking of America’s most-generous donors.)
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Several of the people at the meeting confirmed their involvement, but declined to tell The Chronicle about what was discussed or why they gathered almost in secret.

According to a person familiar with the meeting, the wealthy philanthropists gathered to trade ideas about how to raise the level of philanthropy in the world.

According to IrishCentral.com, a Web site in New York that writes about Irish Americans and which first disclosed some of the details about the gathering, each philanthropist was given 15 minutes to talk about “how they saw the future global economic climate, the future priorities for philanthropy, and what they felt the elite group should do.”

Other people who attended included Eli Broad, a real-estate investor, Julian H. Robertson, Jr., a hedge-fund manager, and Patty Stonesifer, former chief executive of the Gates foundation.

pyrangello · 05-21-2009, 09:06 PM

You know Bill Gates paid 8 million last fall to have all the worlds seeds collected flown to the north poll to put in a seed bank for storage that protects them from everything. Oprah built a school in Africa. And the campaign to inoculate children in africa has been moved forward very much by the gates foundation, Bono, and many others. I'm not a huge fan of ted turner but it's good to see all these people that have been empowered to stay the course and do the right thing once and a while.

alyscat · 05-22-2009, 01:09 AM

does sound as though they're trying to figure out how to help, rather than how to set policy (which the Bildabergers, do (misspelled, I know) - now, might they have inside information that we don't have? Anyone checked into UG rooms that Bill Gates might have???

alys

Humble Janitor · 05-22-2009, 04:13 AM

Can't say that I like any of these folks but if a meeting is secret, well, we wouldn't know anything about it at all.

It's all planned.

Moxie · 05-22-2009, 01:01 PM

I wonder how they are planning to preserve their wealth?

05-21-2009, 08:03 PM	#1
Machinamentum Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Colorado Springs Posts: 413	Top billionaires hold secret meeting in New York http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30851839/ns/us_news-giving/ Top billionaires meet in secret In a quiet meeting closed to the news media and the public, Bill Gates, David Rockefeller Sr., Oprah Winfrey and other leading philanthropists met in New York this month to discuss ways to promote efforts to solve growing social problems in America and abroad. Together, the philanthropists in the room have committed a total of more than $72.5 billion to charitable causes since 1996, according to Chronicle of Philanthropy tallies. The unusual event was held May 5 at Rockefeller University and was organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Among the high-profile participants were Ted Turner, Warren E. Buffett, George Soros and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. (All of those philanthropists have appeared at one time on The Chronicle’s ranking of America’s most-generous donors.) Story continues below ↓advertisement \| your ad here Several of the people at the meeting confirmed their involvement, but declined to tell The Chronicle about what was discussed or why they gathered almost in secret. According to a person familiar with the meeting, the wealthy philanthropists gathered to trade ideas about how to raise the level of philanthropy in the world. According to IrishCentral.com, a Web site in New York that writes about Irish Americans and which first disclosed some of the details about the gathering, each philanthropist was given 15 minutes to talk about “how they saw the future global economic climate, the future priorities for philanthropy, and what they felt the elite group should do.” Other people who attended included Eli Broad, a real-estate investor, Julian H. Robertson, Jr., a hedge-fund manager, and Patty Stonesifer, former chief executive of the Gates foundation.

05-21-2009, 09:06 PM	#2
pyrangello Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 412	Re: Top billionaires hold secret meeting in New York You know Bill Gates paid 8 million last fall to have all the worlds seeds collected flown to the north poll to put in a seed bank for storage that protects them from everything. Oprah built a school in Africa. And the campaign to inoculate children in africa has been moved forward very much by the gates foundation, Bono, and many others. I'm not a huge fan of ted turner but it's good to see all these people that have been empowered to stay the course and do the right thing once and a while.

05-22-2009, 01:09 AM	#3
alyscat Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Washington state Posts: 743	Re: Top billionaires hold secret meeting in New York does sound as though they're trying to figure out how to help, rather than how to set policy (which the Bildabergers, do (misspelled, I know) - now, might they have inside information that we don't have? Anyone checked into UG rooms that Bill Gates might have??? alys

05-22-2009, 04:13 AM	#4
Humble Janitor Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,201	Re: Top billionaires hold secret meeting in New York Can't say that I like any of these folks but if a meeting is secret, well, we wouldn't know anything about it at all. It's all planned.

05-22-2009, 01:01 PM	#5
Moxie Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Beaver Lake, AR Posts: 402	Re: Top billionaires hold secret meeting in New York I wonder how they are planning to preserve their wealth?