Bill Gates shares invaluable piece of advice from his mother that continues to influence how he spends his fortune
Bill Gates has shared an invaluable piece of advice from his mother that continues to influence how he spends his fortune.
The tech mogul is one of the richest men on the planet after founding Microsoft back in 1975.
However, it was advice from his mother that Gates has held onto when it comes to how he uses his wealth.
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The billionaire revealed how much his charitable foundation has spent in order to reduce poverty and combat preventable diseases.
Speaking to the BBC, Gates said: “I’ve given over 100 billion, but I still have more to give.”
Philanthropy is second nature to the entrepreneur, who revealed that it was his mom who gave him some important advice.
He recalled how she had told him that ‘with wealth came the responsibility to give it away’.
And Gates intends to follow her words of wisdom and he has plans to give away the majority of his fortune during his lifetime.
But despite the huge donations, it hasn’t actually impacted his lifestyle.
Gates said: “I made no personal sacrifice. I didn’t order less hamburgers or less movies.”
The billionaire also shared that he has been considering how much money to set aside to leave his children.
When asked if they will be poor after his death, Gates said: “They will not”.
He went on to add: “In absolute, they’ll do well, in percentage terms it’s not a gigantic number.”
The businessman had previously shared three sage pieces of advice his mother had instilled in him from an early age.
First, she encouraged him to read a lot of books, recalling how she said: “There is an immense world past your school reading material. Become familiar with those, read broadly. Investigate new subjects that others regularly don’t.”
The second was to do something mind blowing, as she had said to him: “Your life will shape itself as indicated by your viewpoints, in this way, consistently break new ground. Try not to follow the group. Never think little. Think beyond practical boundaries, so large that it appears to be difficult to you and you dread to inform others!”
And the third piece of advice was to do things that no one else was doing.
She said: “Get things done in life that no other person is doing.
“A great many people construct their vocations on laid out ways, keeping away from gambles. You ought to walk an alternate way, do various things. Make your own way, move individuals to dream.”