Rockefeller 2.0: Gates relaunches philanthropy

What could you do with unlimited resources?

Photo credit: Denis / Redux Pictures

The Gates foundation - with $37.5 billion in cash - is facing that question now, and a number of non-profits are watching intently to see what the outcome will be.

A recent article on MSNBC.com (Rockefeller 2.0: Gates relaunches philanthropy - Giving- msnbc.com) sums up the problem, and the possibilities, this way:

“I meet many high net-worth individuals that are watching Gates and what he does and how he does it, and that’s really exciting in a behavioral way,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. “It opens up people’s minds to what’s possible with philanthropy today.” Jeff Raikes, the Microsoft executive who was recently named as the foundation’s new CEO, told Fortune magazine in June: “Bill has an incredible opportunity to help shape the thinking of other multibillionaires by getting them to think about the process, the structure, the best practices” of giving money away."