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Do you think Tim Cook has Bill Gates envy?

srbNYC

srbNYC

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Jul 7, 2020
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It seems like Gates has set a very high philanthropic bar for a tech leader. Has he redefined the role of a tech-industry CEO? Bezos has no philanthropic reputation, despite some good work, but Apple's brand seems to require some public good on an ongoing basis—certainly more than Microsoft. Now, of course, a current CEO has a very different breadth of responsibilities than someone like Gates. But, still, he seems to have put the public-good on tech's agenda in a way it wasn't done before, and if it's motivating for Cook, that's a win-win for everyone, right?
 
Philanthropic bar while being CEO of a company can only go as far as to not impact business. Hopefully he does more good things but I wouldn't say it's envy because no matter how big Apple gets he isn't a founder that owns a massive stake in the company that can just donate 40+ billion like Bill. Difficult to have a status of Gate or Buffett in that respect but I am sure he will do what he can while in the confines of running a profitable business. Just don't think they are going to do things for good that will greatly impact their business.
 
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Most philanthropy done in the business sector benefits the private sector more than the public sector. Anything announced at the corporate level is clearly designed to benefit the corporate operations. You may see some benefit at in the public sector, but the bean counters have made sure the books come out ahead on their end. They are in the business of making money, not spending it.

Even Bill Gates, with all his "philanthropy," is still one of the richest men in the world. In the end, it's like dropping a few coin in the donation plate once a week. It always seems to impact your wallet more than it does them.
 
pmiles said:
Most philanthropy done in the business sector benefits the private sector more than the public sector. Anything announced at the corporate level is clearly designed to benefit the corporate operations. You may see some benefit at in the public sector, but the bean counters have made sure the books come out ahead on their end. They are in the business of making money, not spending it.

Even Bill Gates, with all his "philanthropy," is still one of the richest men in the world. In the end, it's like dropping a few coin in the donation plate once a week. It always seems to impact your wallet more than it does them.
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Don't know why you put "philanthropy" in quotes, are you being sarcastic? When I was in Rotary about 15 years ago, our Major Emphasis was to eradicate polio through out the world. Rotary raised a lot of money to inoculate kids all over the world. We were short of our goal, Bill Gates put up a matching grant of $250 million dollars we easily and quickly beat. He was so impressed he donated another $500 million, no strings attached. His foundation is now the largest in the world with assets of 46 billion dollars. He was one of original group to pledge to give away a majority of his wealth. Tim Cook has done the same.
 
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Corporate philanthropy is a Board of Directors level decision. Perhaps this is something Tim has championed to the Board, perhaps it came from others, perhaps Tim was one of several spearheading the effort... I applaud it, regardless of who deserves the credit.

Tim has certainly incorporated this very prominently into his leadership role at the company, which is not true of every corporate CEO (except perhaps when they can be photographed giving a check to one of their pet charities) - there are plenty who are satisfied to let someone else at the company spearhead the effort. Leadership matters, of course.

Bill and Melinda Gates' philanthropy is a personal choice, done with their personal fortune. It's not related to Microsoft - he stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in January 2000 (although he continued on as Chairman), and started the foundation that same year. I don't recall Microsoft cultivating its charitable image during the years that Gates was running the company.

While Tim Cook certainly has given of his personal wealth, I doubt it's a matter of "Bill Gates Envy." There are plenty of ways we humans can stoke our egos (or feel we're making an impact on the world). Charitable giving, taking public positions on matters of conscience, etc. tend to appeal to people who think these things are good. Others are perfectly happy to stoke their egos by spending money on themselves and trumpeting their lavish lifestyle to the rest of the world.
 
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It would seem to me that if you pledged to give away the majority of your wealth, you wouldn't still be one of the richest men in the world. As I said... to the rich, this is nothing more than a drop in the collection plate to them. They haven't given away their wealth, they have only given away a small portion of it (from their perspective, not ours).

Not saying that what they are doing is nothing to talk about, but to say they are giving away their wealth in the hopes of joining the middle american wealth status to prove their commitment... is a stretch. They have a voice because of all the power their money affords them. They aren't about to give away that voice... so they will continue to be rich in spite of their philanthropy.
 
srbNYC said:
It seems like Gates has set a very high philanthropic bar for a tech leader. Has he redefined the role of a tech-industry CEO? Bezos has no philanthropic reputation, despite some good work, but Apple's brand seems to require some public good on an ongoing basis—certainly more than Microsoft. Now, of course, a current CEO has a very different breadth of responsibilities than someone like Gates. But, still, he seems to have put the public-good on tech's agenda in a way it wasn't done before, and if it's motivating for Cook, that's a win-win for everyone, right?
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yep,, i should think it would.
 
................................. Is there any evidence at all that Mr Cook is worried about such a comparison?
 
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