Gates Addresses the Issue

In response to the criticisms made of the Gates Foundation investments, Many papers reported that the foundation is reassessing its investment policies. The LA Times reported:

In a significant change, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it would review its investments to determine whether its holdings were socially responsible.

In addition to what it called a continuing review of "our approach to investments," the foundation said on its website, "we will review other strategies that can fulfill a social responsibility role, both in terms of their aspirations and in understanding the impact that they may have."

...In its website statement, the foundation said it would establish a procedure in which the founder and his wife would personally assess its holdings and matters of social responsibility. "We will … formalize the process," it said, "by which Bill and Melinda Gates analyze and review these issues."

Experts in socially conscious investing said the development would probably cause other foundations to rethink their endowment policies. The David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, both among the nation's 10 largest, said Wednesday that they too were reevaluating their investments to assess social and environmental effects.

..."They have become the face of philanthropy for the country, if not the world," Gunderson said. "The move you saw today is the kind of socially responsible reaction that the Gates Foundation will consistently engage in … because they recognize their impact on all of philanthropy."

But just a few days later, the chief executive said the foundation is NOT planning this change. Again, from the LA Times:

Despite recent statements that it planned several changes, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will keep its current approach to investing its endowment, Patty Stonesifer, its chief executive, says.

It would be naive, Stonesifer said in a letter published today on the editorial page of the Los Angeles Times, to think that changing the foundation's investment policy could stop the human suffering blamed on the practices of companies in which it invests billions of dollars.

Stonesifer wrote in response to an investigative series published by The Times last Sunday and Monday that showed that the Gates Foundation, founded by the chairman of Microsoft Corp., reaps vast financial gains from investments in companies that contribute to the human suffering in health, housing and social welfare that the foundation is trying to alleviate.

In a more personal article, the Gates Foundation Chief Executive speaks out:

In the recent coverage of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's investments, The Times implies that we have made secret investments. We have always been open about the investments we make. Every corporate stock and bond we invest in is listed on our public tax forms, which are posted on our website going back to 2002.

The stories you told of people who are suffering touched us all. But it is naive to suggest that an individual stockholder can stop that suffering. Changes in our investment practices would have little or no impact on these issues. While shareholder activism has worthwhile goals, we believe a much more direct way to help people is by making grants and working with other donors to improve health, reduce poverty and strengthen education.

Bill and Melinda Gates have always reviewed investments and will continue to do so. To explain our philosophy and clarify how we make decisions, we have posted a statement on our website, gatesfoundation.org.

Hrrrrrmmmmmmm. What's next?