6 Minute English – Giving away your fortune

Neil
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil…

Sophie
And I’m Sophie…

Neil
Sophie, I can’t get out of my head what Mark Zuckerberg, you know, the guy who created Facebook, said recently.

Sophie
Oh, I know, he pledged – or made a serious promise – to give away 99% of his shares in Facebook over the course of his lifetime. The shares are currently worth around $45bn.

Neil
Why, oh why did he decide to give his fortune away? It’s puzzling to me.

Sophie
It’s an act of philanthropy – which means helping others, especially by giving large amounts of money to good causes.

Neil
And philanthropy is the subject of this show.

Sophie
But don’t worry about Zuckerberg, it’s probably fair to say that he will remain extremely well off – or wealthy – even after giving away his fortune.

Neil
Well, that’s true. Let me ask you then today’s quiz question: Who was the most generous philanthropist in the US last year? Was it…
a) Bill Gates
b) Mark Zuckerberg
Or c) Warren Buffett

Sophie
I’m going to say… c) Warren Buffett.

Neil
Well, we’ll find out if you were right or not later on in the show. Now, Zuckerberg was inspired to give away his fortune by the birth of his daughter Max. In a letter to Max – posted on Facebook. In his post, he talks about using the money to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation. Equality – in other words, with the same rights and opportunities.

Sophie
Zuckerberg is the latest in a long line of billionaire entrepreneurs to turn philanthropist and use his money for good causes. Did you know that some of the earliest American philanthropists were robber barons?

Neil
Robber barons? What’s … ? Hang on, what’re robber barons?

Sophie
They’re business people who use unethical – or morally wrong – business tactics to gain large personal fortunes. Nineteenth-century entrepreneurs like Rockefeller, Carnegie and Ford were robber barons. They built up huge empires in industry – oil, steel, railways, and cars – and were largely responsible for transforming the United States from an agricultural nation into an industrial one.

Neil
Henry Ford – he’s the one who said you can have any colour you want as long as it’s black. I like that kind of thing.

Sophie
Focus, Neil!

Neil
OK. OK.

Sophie
But as the barons got older, they decided they wanted to give back to society, and turned to philanthropy. Andrew Carnegie believed that wealth should be spent to make the world a better place.

Neil
That sounds too warm and fuzzy for a ruthless – or cruel – robber baron.

Sophie
People change, Neil! When he died, Carnegie had given away a total of $350m to the state to spend on public works. That’s around $8bn in today’s money.

Neil
Well, let’s listen to Hugh Cunningham, a Professor of History at the University of Kent here, in the UK. He talks about what the average Joe – that’s you and me, folks – thinks about big business and philanthropy today.

INSERT
Hugh Cunningham, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Kent
The very word philanthropy does not necessarily have 100% positive connotations for the public at large given where we are in terms of the public’s attitude towards business or the banks and that kind of stuff. So I think it’s in everyone’s interests to try and broaden out the concept of philanthropy into a wider notion of giving, making a contribution, making a difference.

Neil
Yes, banks and big businesses can easily afford to give away millions of dollars for the public good if they choose to. It is not so easy when you’re an individual struggling to pay the rent.

Sophie
That’s right, Neil. But a lot of people in the UK are super-rich compared to those in the developing world. And we can make a big difference by donating – or giving – smaller amounts of money to help improve their lives.

Neil
And that’s what Professor Cunningham means when he says we should broaden out the notion – or idea – of philanthropy. It’s not only robber barons who can afford to be philanthropic. Let’s listen to Toby Ord, a graduate student from Oxford University talking about how he makes a difference.

INSERT
Toby Ord, moral philosopher, Oxford University
I worked out that over my life I’d be able to earn about £1.5m and that I could maintain my current standard of living as a graduate student and still donate about £1m of that.

Sophie
So Toby actually gives away any money that he earns above £18,000 a year. He feels that he doesn’t need more than this amount to maintain his standard of living.

Neil
I’m impressed by Toby’s pledge but I don’t think I could live like a student my whole life!

Sophie
I thought that would suit you extremely well, Neil! Now why don’t you give us the answer to today’s quiz question?

Neil
I asked: Who was the most generous philanthropist in the US last year? Was it… a) Bill Gates? b) Mark Zuckerberg? Or c) Warren Buffett?

Sophie
I said Warren Buffett.

Neil
Good guess, Sophie! Well done! Buffett, who made his $73bn fortune from investments, donated $2.8bn to charity in 2014 bringing his lifetime total to almost $23bn, according to Forbes. That’s a tidy sum – and that means a large number! OK let’s hear those words again, Sophie.

Sophie
Here they are:
pledged
philanthropy
well off
human potential
equality
unethical
ruthless
average Joe
donating
a tidy sum

Neil
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Please join us again soon!

Both
Bye.