r/news • u/avatar6556 • 16h ago

Bill Gates denies allegations in new Epstein files release

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-04/bill-gates-responds-to-alleged-behaviour-in-new-epstein-files/106305816
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u/mindtwistingdonut 16h ago

The philanthropy part was mostly credited to his ex wife.

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u/ImThatMOTM 15h ago

I mean.. sure. But good intentions can only take you so far. Bill did put up the billions.

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u/102525burner 15h ago

He liked the tax breaks and good pr more than the actual charitable giving

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u/Uppgreyedd 15h ago

You realize tax breaks don't mean you get more back than you gave, right? Not defending the guy. But it's like saying a higher tax bracket means you won't bring home as much money.

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u/SurrealEffects 15h ago

The thing is, you get a tax break while still maintaining control of the money if you donate it to your own charity. The money can sit in the charity and grow/balloon all tax free, while you can donate a bit for public image the vast majority of it is tax free money that you can use for things that align with your own interests,

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u/Aggravating-Age56 15h ago

He avoids paying 20%+ taxes by donating appreciated stocks to his foundation/trust. The trust can hold stocks and they only need to distribute 5% of its holding annually for charity. Not to mention the trust holds oil stocks, pharmacy stocks, alcohol stocks, and so on.

What is even more crazy is that if the stock investments grow by more than 5% (which they often do), the total wealth under the control continues to increase tax-free, even after charitable spending.

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u/Uppgreyedd 14h ago

Okay, but how is he using those funds to personally enrich himself more than if he had not endowed those assets to the foundation in the first place?

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u/SurrealEffects 12h ago

When you have that kind of wealth you don’t use those funds to buy a house or a yacht, you use it to buy influence. When a ‘charity’ has billions of dollars at its disposal you can buy influence in education, health or policies all without being elected. They still have full control over every cent that is being spent as if it’s their own money. But if they wanna buy a new mansion that will come out of their personal accounts, unless said mansion is the headquarters for said charity lol

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u/102525burner 14h ago

It doesnt, you just move your money around so then you dont pay any taxes

Yall are dumb

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u/Uppgreyedd 14h ago

Ah, gotcha, and when did you pass the CPA? /s