Financial Transparency Coalition

Bill Gates likes to be thought of as a great philanthropist. He’s referred to as such, so I guess he’s happy about it. And in some senses he is. But remember he gets tax relief as a result. Remember something else too: the value of Microsoft has undoubtedly been inflated by its tax planning. Low taxes equals higher value is a golden rule of the stock market: it’s the motive for tax avoidance. So ask a question: how much of Gates’ philanthropy has been paid for by the US Exchequer? Quite a lot, I suspect. It’s still philanthropy, but not quite as it first...