But the facts are hard to ignore. But more than 90 percent of that sum has been disbursed since 1994, and more than half the total was given away in 1997 alone. 1994, incidentally, was the year Bill Gates' mother, Mary Gates, died of breast cancer. A longtime United Way board member, Mary Gates, by all accounts, persistently encouraged her son to do more with his wealth than simply accumulate it. After years of single-minded, voracious focus on the Microsoft bottom line, Bill Gates appears to finally be heeding his mom's advice.
Charity does, it seems, begin at home.
Since 1994, the philanthropy tap has been jacked wide open. The big-ticket donations do not come without associated waves of skepticism from Gates' stable of critics. Just the price tag necessary to lure a star biotech professor to the Seattle area, where he can serve as Gates' informal advisor on biotech investments. Hook the poor kids on the Net, and then make sure that they're all using Internet Explorer as the browser of choice. Future generations of Microsoft market domination will be assured.