Bono, Gates attend World Economic Forum
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Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced Friday at the World Economic Forum that his foundation would give $306 million to use green technology and farming techniques to boost millions out of hunger and poverty.
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By Terry Wade SAO PAULO, Brazil  - Microsoft Corp.  islobbying Brazil's government to agree to a meeting between thecompany's chairman, Bill Gates, and President Luiz Inacio Lulada Silva at the World Economic Forum next week, a Brazilianofficial said.
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Microsoft CEO Bill Gates gave a glimpse of his future as a philanthropist in a speech in Switzerland on Thursday, calling for a new kind of &quot;creative capitalism&quot; from businesses to help improve the lives of the world&#39;s poorest people.
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The World Economic Forum in Davos kicks off amid transatlantic tensions with a focus on Aids and climate change.
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Steve Jobs, Bono and the Edge Tuesday ushered in what Apple's CEO and the two members of U2 called a new era of digital music.
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Microsoft chairman Bill Gates speaks at a meeting part of the &quot;Futurshow 3004&quot; technology fair, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004.
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DAVOS, Switzerland  - Microsoft Corp   Chairman Bill Gates called on Thursday for a new "creative  capitalism" to help the world's 1 billion poorest who live on  less than $1 a day.
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Microsoft CEO Bill Gates gave a glimpse of his future as a philanthropist in a speech in Switzerland on Thursday, calling for a new kind of &quot;creative capitalism&quot; from businesses to help improve the lives of the world&#39;s poorest people.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates challenged companies worldwide to work with governments and nonprofits to find ways to be charitable and solve the problems of the poorest people without sacrificing their own business needs.&quot;We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve the wealthier people serve poorer people as well,&quot; he said, speaking via a webcast from Switzerland.The idea of creative capitalism combines the &quot;two great focuses of human nature -- self-interest and caring for others,&quot; Gates said. By keeping in mind business acumen, corporations can find new and innovative ways to solve major problems for 1 billion of the world&#39;s poorest people, who don&#39;t get enough food or don&#39;t have drinking water or reliable access to medication, which the rest of us take for granted, he said.&quot;This system driven by self-interest is responsible for incredible innovations that improve lives,&quot; Gates said. &quot;But to harness this power to benefit everyone, we need to refine the system.&quot;Gates plans to retire from full-time duties at Microsoft in July and devote most of his time to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organization he runs with his wife.Gates acknowledged Thursday that profits may not always be possible when companies try to serve the poor, so corporate leaders should change their thinking and not expect that they must make money from new business models around philanthropy. Rather, recognition for the good it does in the world should be enough for a company to take an interest in serving others, because that recognition also has business value.&quot;Recognition enhances a company&#39;s reputation, appeals to customers and attracts good people to an organization,&quot; he said. &quot;In a market where profits aren&#39;t possible, recognition becomes a proxy for profit.&quot;In a question-and-answer period following his speech, Gates said that rather than having goals that are too lofty, companies should focus on the businesses they know -- whether food, drugs, media, or technology -- to work with governments in developing countries to bring resources to the poor.He cited an example of an unnamed Dutch company, sharing its rights to a cholera vaccine to provide the medication to Vietnam for less than $1 a dose, as an example of a company leveraging its core business to bring much-needed resources to the developing world.Gates also mentioned the Red campaign as an example of creative capitalism. The campaign, supported by companies such as the Gap, Motorola, and Armani, was born out of a late-night bar conversation he had with Bono of the rock band U2, according to Gates.The Red campaign gives portions of profits from products sold to raise money for disease treatment programs in Africa. Earlier this week, Dell and Microsoft said they will sell special crimson-red versions of the XPS line of computers as part of the program. To date, Red has provided $50 million to a global fund for treating AIDS and malaria, and nearly 2 million people in Africa are receiving &quot;life-saving&quot; drugs today, Gates said.Prior to the Dell announcement, Microsoft already had been putting Gates&#39; idea of creative capitalism in practice through programs such as &quot;Unlimited Potential,&quot; which aims to promote technology skills and bring computers to emerging markets.Business leaders are not the only ones who will have to change the way they think to put creative capitalism into practice, Gates said. NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) also must be more open-minded about working with businesses to come up with new ways to serve the poor.&quot;Once upon a time the NGOs had a bad attitude&quot; about working with businesses, because they would expect too much from companies and, as a result, companies that worked with NGOs often ended up with their reputations tarnished, he said. While &quot;there is still some of that, the attitudes of both NGOs and the private sector have improved quite a bit,&quot; Gates said.
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DAVOS, Switzerland  - French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are among European leaders taking centre stage at the World Economic Forum, an annual meeting of the rich, powerful and famous.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) chairman Bill Gates is visiting the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, but has not scheduled a meeting with the head of the antitrust office, which has imposed measures on the company.
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Fighting Africa's poverty and the spread of Aids top the agenda at the Davos World Economic Forum.
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World financial officials gathered for the annual World Bank and the I.M.F. meeting in one of the most contentious sessions in years.
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Facing a global economy on the mend but threatened by surging oil prices and other factors, IMF and World Bank policymakers opened two days of meetings Saturday to discuss ways to keep the recovery on track.
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Blog: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs share friendly banter on the stage at the D5 conference.
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At the World Economic Forum, aid to the devolping world took center stage--and China remained a mystery
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The World Economic Forum on the Middle East comes just days after police arrested hundreds of pro-reform demonstrators in Cairo.
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Steve Jobs, Bono and the Edge joined together Tuesday to usher in what Apple&#39;s CEO and the two members of U2 called a new era of digital music.