Oh for fuck's sake. How do you think a double-digit-billion endowment gets managed? By Bill Gates sitting around with a copy of the Wall Street Journal and a cup of coffee, picking stocks?
No. The money manager roles for the Gates Foundation are extremely serious, and extremely high-status. The guy who runs money management for the Gates Foundation was the former CFO of Merck. Presumably, managing the endowment for an organization with goals like "eradicate polio from the face of the earth in the name of Bill and Melinda Gates" is a job done with at least as much deadly seriousness as your average pension fund or university endowment, both of which are organizations that handle their money the same way.
No. The money manager roles for the Gates Foundation are extremely serious, and extremely high-status. The guy who runs money management for the Gates Foundation was the former CFO of Merck. Presumably, managing the endowment for an organization with goals like "eradicate polio from the face of the earth in the name of Bill and Melinda Gates" is a job done with at least as much deadly seriousness as your average pension fund or university endowment, both of which are organizations that handle their money the same way.
"Hypocritical investments in Wal Mart". Sheesh.