In her book last year, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System”, Diane Ravitch dismissively described the wealthy philanthropists who are bankrolling various efforts to improve the otherwise taxpayer funded school system as the “billionaire boys club”. She argues that the likes of Bill Gates, the Walton family (heirs of the founder […]
The late and unlamented terror chief may not be anyone’s idea of a philanthropist, least of all ours. Yet, however offensive it may seem, the horrible thought does raise some important questions, so please bear with us on this one… First of all, Osama bin-Laden had plenty of cash – inheriting a pile from his […]
The collapse of the $50 billion Ponzi scheme run by Bernie Madoff has hurt many philanthropists and the organisations they support. There will be plenty of time to reflect on how to avoid similar disasters in future, especially by improving the financial due diligence of donors and some of their beneficiaries. But the immediate priority […]