Back in 2006, I received a request from Patty Stonesifer to join her at the New York Public Library. The invitation was not transferable, and there was no indication why I was being summoned by the then-CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to travel from the Chronicle’s headquarters in Washington to Manhattan.
Just a few hours before settling into the elegant Celeste Bartos Forum in the library’s Fifth Avenue main branch, I learned why I was joining David Rockefeller and some 300 other luminaries from the world of philanthropy. We were there to witness the creation of one of the most momentous philanthropic mergers in history.
As Warren Buffett announced his decision to transfer a large chunk of his wealth to the Gateses (and to foundations for each of his three children), it was striking to witness the billionaire investor putting aside his ego by relinquishing all giving decisions to two much younger people who at the time were the only Americans wealthierthan he was.
After Buffett unveiled some documents he was signing, he and the Gateses were peppered with questions from journalists from around the world. I was more fascinated by something else: I realized this was the first time I had heard more than a sentence or two about philanthropy from Melinda. She was answering the questions faster than Bill, and often adding more concrete and real-world examples about what their philanthropy was trying to achieve.
Melinda talks about that moment in her just-released book The Moment of Lift and how it marked a turning point for her. (See Page 36 to see how she reflects on that and more in an email interview with me.)
At a time when billionaire philanthropy is under attack — often with good reason — Gates’s book confirms why Buffett was so ready to give his money to the couple’s foundation. Like their philanthropy or hate it, they think carefully about their giving.
Gates also told me that the major thing she will pass on to her daughters as they embark on giving is the importance of listening to others about what they need most.
The sense of humility that Gates shows throughout the book helps me understand why many years ago Stonesifer framed a copy of a cartoon that appeared in the Chronicle. She wanted a gift that would make her friend and boss laugh hard: It depicted Gates dressed as an angel swooping down from heaven to sprinkle dollars on a nonprofit leader. That’s hardly how Gates thinks of herself, Stonesifer told me.
You’ll come away from her new book understanding that as you discover more about one of the most powerful people in philanthropy.
