Billionaires open their wallets part II

Woo Hoo... I tried with IE and it worked... Is IE better than Firefox?
I don't know, what I wanted to retrieve is the news from Forbest about the blessed billionaires that gave to Katrina's victimes. God bless you people!

Billionaires Open Their Wallets
Allison Fass and Helen Coster, 09.14.05, 6:00 AM ET

FORBES MAGAZINE

American billionaires hold much of the wealth in the U.S. and also control many of its largest companies. As such, they are in a unique position to influence national giving much in the same way as celebrities and sports stars are.

But instead of making bold donations and speaking out publicly about their contributions to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, all but a rare few have chosen to shun the limelight. Among those who won't comment on their personal giving in face of this tragedy are Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRKA - news - people ), Larry Ellison of Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ), Jeff Bezos of Amazon (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) and Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Katrina's Billionaire Donors

Others such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former presidential candidate Ross Perot confirm they have given something but won't say to whom or how much. Even such outspoken billionaires as Donald Trump and Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban are uncharacteristically quiet. Trump won't say if he sent a personal check but did confirm he is sending cases of Trump water to the Gulf Coast. Cuban, meanwhile, wrote a detailed account in his personal blog of his unsuccessful odyssey to donate $50,000 worth of clothes and criticized relief agencies and the media for not helping make it easier for folks to donate.

Cut the billionaires some slack. Some may not want to appear to be taking advantage of the cause for their own gain. Others may not want too many nonprofits calling on them.

Luckily there are exceptions to the low-profile rule; rich folks who realize that doing good publicly can set an example. Click here to read more about Katrina's billionaire donors.


katrina's billionaires donors