Someone Asked Which Millionaires And Billionaires The Internet Calls Decent And Got These 31 Answers
Usually, when we think of extremely rich people such as millionaires or even billionaires, we don't imagine the best humans on this planet. In fact, most commonly we think of out-of-touch people who likely did not do the best possible thing to acquire their wealth.
But just as we shouldn’t generalize other social groups, we shouldn’t generalize overly rich people as well. So, let's take a look at the list of rich people who are deemed to be philanthropic by internet folks. And let's see if this list changes our perception of them.
More info: Reddit
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Harris Rosen offered free daycare for anyone in the small down of Tangelo Florida and ended up offering to fund college tuition for any tangelo resident to go to a Florida public university. In 20 years the graduation rate went from 25% to nearly 100% and the crime rate was cut in half.
It's almost like when people are given a chance to succeed legally they will prefer this over crime. Shocking, I know.
Weird. Let’s see what happens if the US gives universal healthcare and adequate housing.
Load More Replies...Sad that so many people choose crime just because they don't have access to a basic human right.
If he lobbied for higher taxes for the rich, many more people could go to college.
Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do make our dreams come true!
I’ve stayed in Rosen owned hotels in Orlando. Dogs allowed and no extra fee.
Keanu Reeves
Absolutely, no explanation needed. It would be a very long one at that.
Dolly Parton
Why isn't there an explanation of how Dolly Parton made the world a better place?
I know she has some children's book program where you can sign up to get an age appropriate free book every month. I heard that a while back.
She's given over 100 million books to children and donated $1 million towards the Moderna vaccine
Imagination Library. Donation to Vanderbilt to fund Moderna development. Paid residents of Sevierville an amount each month (forgot how much, but more than McDonald's money) after a bad fire. Spurred the development and success of Pigeon Forge. Scholarships for Dollywood employees. Probably many more. Oh yeah, she sings and writes songs now and again.
I read some years back that she built Dollywood to employee people near where she was born and raised.
she donates to schools! She even go to read in schools. For her educating youngsters is the most important (and changes the world)
For more insight about rich people's philanthropy, Bored Panda talked to Kristin Wright from Global Giving.
She shared that their organization has been fortunate enough to collaborate with people of various financial backgrounds, including extremely rich people. One of them was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This powerful partnership allowed us to launch our Learn Library, a widely used resource offering tools and guidance for people who want to make a positive difference globally.”
Iowa Carpenter Dale Schroeder Saved $3 Million to Put 33 Strangers Through College
Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Bezos. Nothing but charities since the divorce, donating A LOT of the money she got from the divorce.
That assumes he ever had one. He’s been pretty vocal over the years about believing that an abusive workplace is the only way to motivate employees.
Load More Replies...She has donated Billions and yet, is still currently getting richer. Once you get to a certain point financially, it takes effort to lose it.
And I'm quite sure she lives VERY comfortably while "givin it all away"
Have you ever worked in a famine zone? The places where the people are literally starving to death? These stick-thin people, many of them children, swollen bellies, waiting for hours for food. Sometimes they're too weak to eat it. Some of the children don't really even know how to eat. At the end of the day, you go back and eat your own meal, haunted by the people you weren't able to feed that day. Don't condemn someone because she doesn't give every single thing she has. If the relief workers don't eat, they will become too weak to help the ones they can feed. It's okay to take care of yourself, too. How much do you, personally, give, as you're condemning someone else? And no, I don't really want to know. It's none of my business. I'd just like you to think about your position, if you will.
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I work for The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Michael has done a hell of a good job mobilizing support for this disease. Over $1 billion raised. Edit for clarity: "This disease" was me referring to Parkinson's. MJF was diagnosed at 29 years old and he is now 62.
Amazing research for a disease that affects so many more people and at a younger age these days.
Kristin said that at their organization they believe that philanthropy is driven by a desire to make a difference, which they consider to be a universal human trait. “We've so often observed that the motivation for giving transcends wealth. From millionaires to those who donate a few dollars, the underlying motivator is often a sense of purpose and a desire to contribute positively to the world.” She also mentioned that there are scientific studies which suggest that altruism is hardwired in humans.
The public relations manager noted that initiatives backed by billionaires can have a big impact: “These initiatives can bring about significant changes in various sectors, such as education, healthcare, and environmental conservation.”
Chef Jose Andres started World Central Kitchen which goes to areas that have been hit by natural disasters, etc to help feed the residents.
They literally have boots on the ground within hours of events happening-all over the world.
Love World Central Kitchen! They even feed government workers during furloughs, you can go to one of his restaurants and get a free meal.
Back in 2022 when the war in Ukraine started, they just showed up one day at the railway station, where volunteers gathered to help refugees: "We are from World Central Kitchen and we have food to offer for everyone." Their sandwiches - fresh and nicely wrapped - were the best I've ever tasted.
Happy to hear from someone who has benefitted personally from WCK. They are an incredible organization and, as someone who works in food service, it gives me pleasure to know the simple meal of a sandwich has brightened someone's day.
Load More Replies...My wife, demands, we contribute to World Central Kitchen. That is just one of the many examples of why she is smarter than me.
He is one of the most passionate and decent humans in the world. We just donated to WCK.
Donated to this for Jackscepticeye's Thankmas stream this year! It feels nice to donate for a good cause, even if it's not that much :)
Number one wealthiest man in the entire world, Andrew Carnegie, is responsible for creation of public libraries in USA that we all take for granted today.
Before, people had their own books and it was mostly wealthy or upper middle class people. Working class had little to none and good portion are illiterate. Best way to help people to be successful is knowledge.
Not just the US. You'd be hard pushed to find a village in the central belt of Scotland that doesn't have a Carnegie Hall or Library!
There are half a dozen in the county in Canada where I live!!
Load More Replies...Carnegie spent the first half of his life being a monster, and the second half trying to clean up his reputation by doing much less good than the harm he had done.
Yeah, the "Robber barons" are clearly inspiring Musk, Bezos, Gates and their ilk.
Load More Replies...At least he did that much it's better than nothing without libraries I don't think I'd still be topside today
He said words in effect that if a rich man dies with money he loses.
Gary Sinise . A true hero for people. His foundation raised $300 million for Wounded Soldiers, first responders and their families
i am not even gay but damn, he got something.
Load More Replies...An amazing person, and does not get enoigh recognition for his acting.
But does raising $300 million make him a millionaire? What is his net worth? Don't get me wrong, I love Gary but raising money for a charity doesn't mean you are a millionaire.
He's a great dude, a bit off subject but my best friends dad was a straight up doppelganger of post Vietnam lieutenant Dan except for the legs
Love him and his charity work, AND "Tower 2 Tower' is another great charity.
Kristin also added that everyone’s philanthropy matters, no matter their financial situation: “Every donation — no matter how small — contributes to a larger collective effort when it comes to making the world a better place. The power of thousands of donors making small to medium-sized gifts was on full display during our record-breaking Giving Tuesday event last week, where we raised nearly $3.7 million from over 15,000 donations. This achievement highlighted not just the power of collective giving, but also the spirit of community and shared purpose that unites donors of all capacities.”
Have you ever done any philanthropic deeds yourself? Or maybe you have another rich person in mind who has done this? Don't shy away from sharing your thoughts with us in the comments!
Milton Hershey. Not only did he build an entire town and give his workers housing that has blossomed into one of the highest income areas in the U.S, he also founded the Milton Hershey School, a k-12 school for underprivileged children that is funded by 1/3 of the revenue of the Hershey Company every year. Hershey, PA. also has one of the lowest crime rates in America, one of the best public school systems, and a top 5 children’s hospital in the world. The man built a candy empire and made sure all of the proceeds were funneled right back into the town and the people that worked for him. As an added bonus, he reduced his own earnings to make sure no workers were laid off during the Great Depression.
NOPE. JUST NOPE. Find out what chocolate did to cocoa-growing farmers; or how Hershey processed their cocoa.
Dude looks like Chevy Chase's boss from Christmas Vacation https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0236519/mediaviewer/rm965031937/?ref_=nm_md_1
Today, however, his company's business practices exploit the poor, impoverished people, especially children, in Western Africa.
Bill Gates is donating millions and millions for research into "orphan's diseases". Diseases with just a few hundred or thousand cases worldwide, so Big Pharma says "naw, we're not doing any research - the market is too small, no money in it for us".
That's where the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation steps in and says " we finance it. Go!"
Hats off! I feel nothing but respect
So far he has donated more than 50 billion and has said he will gradually give away 99% of his wealth both during and after his lifetime.
BILL GATES is a decent billionaire? BILL GATES??? Do you know HOW he made his billions????
Load More Replies...Neither do I. On one hand he doesn't care for his own employees and allows his company to exploit people all over the world, giving talks about grind culture and making excuses for creating living conditions that are hell, on the other hand he gives away tons of money in such a public way he can preen and present himself as a generous and benevolent angle. He's a hypocrite and a twat. Still part of the problem.
Load More Replies...That said his foundation's payments come with a lot of strings. Like "all your data are belong to us" type strings.
Yeah, he was definitely part of the reason poorer countries had a harder time affording covid vaccines. jerkwad.
Load More Replies...nd then there's Steve Jobs, whose charitable contributions amounted to almost exactly nothing.
If he gave away 99% of his net worth (according to Google it's 119 billion dollars) he would still have over 1 billion dollars left (that is if I did the math correctly). So not exactly a hardship for him & his heirs.
Odd that he should be pictured with Jobs, whose charitable contributions amounted to almost exactly NOTHING.
Mariska Hargitay with her work to end the backlog of testing r**e kits as well as all the work with her Joyful Heart Foundation that she’s done.
You go solve the rape kit backlog crisis if you want to be so high and mighty
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A historical British millionaire, James Smithson, donated 100,000 gold Crowns (the equivalent of $500,000 at the time) when he died in 1838, to the US people specifically for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." Congress kept trying to come up with ways to spend it, which were all blocked by former president John Quincy Adams, who was post-presidency the elected congressman from Massachusetts. JQA kept saying the vision to use the gift was too shortsighted. What ultimately he endorsed was the formation of the Smithsonian Institution that remains a center of learning and knowledge nearly 200 years later.
If we consider an average annual inflation rate of 3%, $500,000 in 1938 would be roughly equivalent to nearly $6.5 million in today's dollars.
Jon Bon Jovi. I love what he is doing with his restaurants for the homeless. It’s not just about food, it’s also about treating people with dignity.
Pearl Jam. A few years ago they did a series of shows where all the money went to help the homeless in Seattle. I believe they raised about $73 million dollars just from those show alone. And they have done lots of other charity work.
Jimmy Carter has a net worth of 10 million, does that count? Eradicated guinea worm from Africa.
I'm not sure that compensates for making the world safe for Islamic terrorism.
There is no real need to "counterbalance" every comment. Let's comment on the good the man has done. If you want to bash him, don't do on a "What good have people done" page.
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Yvon Chouinard- Founder of Patagonia. Chose to donate the billion dollar company to an environmental trust rather than list the business publicly.
Interesting... The Holdfast Collective a 501-c-4, allowing them to embark on political ventures with the "charity" money. This means they will have incredible political influence... But yeah, he donated it all to charity. /s
Peter Seidler. He was the owner of the San Diego Padres, but put a lot of money and more importantly his own time to fight homelessness in our community. He would walk the streets and buy food and talk to the homeless (even during the pandemic) to learn how the money in his foundations (lucky duck foundation) would better serve them. He made the city leaders meet every Tuesday morning to discuss how they could help the homeless in San Diego. He not only donated millions of dollars, he was active in understanding how that money was spent to best help who needed it most. Every interview I ever heard the man speak, he would bring up these efforts instead of only talking about baseball or the fact he was battling cancer three times over.
Also it was like having a fan own our baseball team and he dressed like one too. He will be sorely missed in our community.
Good man. If it was me, I'd set up / build apartment complexes or small villages, staff them with well paid and motivated support staff with medical centres that concentrate on the individuals mental, physical and general wellbeing with no financial charges until they are ready to move on. The trick to making this work would be to ensure that before anyone moves on to another place they are mentally, financially and physically able to do so and are able to sustain themselves. Personally, I'd like to found a village / complex for the older, active population for mutual support, entertainment and general enjoyment of each others company (that was astonishingly badly worded but I've been awake since 3.30am and am tired !!)
I don't think it's badly worded. People who misinterpret this must have a dirty mind. You didn't say anything offensive
Load More Replies...Sad that I've never heard of him before today. He sounds really involved and thoughtful instead of just throwing money at something. Amazing!
Mark Cuban for sure. What he's doing to get people affordable prescription medication is changing the game
Good for him. Sadly, this should NOT be down to an individual, no matter how rich, philanthropic and forward thinking, it should be down to the government, paid for by a minimal increase in tax and distributed equally throughout the population ; before anyone says it won't work (or, shock, horror, that it might be a Socialist / Commie idea (frankly, if you think that you need to do two things, 1). Read about stuff, you'd be amazed, and 2). Pull your head out of your a**e)) , it has been working perfectly well, efficiently and with minimal impact on wealth for the majority of the population in most of Europe for over 70 years. The healthcare system in the USA is basically a scam, run and controlled by a few big players (who at best are dubious and at worst, corrupt) who will fight tooth and nail to hold on to their influence, power and market share by any means at their disposal. Over to you people of the USA, good luck.
Still he can be an important part to bring change. I've read an interview he gave. His company sells medication really cheap and still makes profits and he uses them to offer even more variety. That's creating economical pressure. His company growing will draw customers away from other pharmaceutical companies and eventually forcing them to compete. Since he also pays fair wages, his retention rate of employees will be better. He'll be able to steadily grow. I totally agree with you that ot shouldn't be on him and it shows how much is going wrong, since nobody else is doing anything, it's still important that he does what he can.
Load More Replies...Actually he wasnt the first to do that, there were 3 companies that did that between 2006/2007 and 2013. They were regulated out of existing by Obamacare (as were other low cost health care options for many things), and he's able to do it because he's rich enough to deal with the regulatory issues and fines.
John Green and Hank Green.
They are millionaires that have used their social position to raise thousands among thousands among thousands of dollars for charity (Hank's Cancer socks), support tuberculosis efforts (John Green spoke to the UN), improve the health system in Sierra Leone, and more alongside curating an educational YouTube channel that helps millions of students (crash course).
Plus they're both authors. John has some recognizable works like "The Fault In Our Stars", "Looking For Alaska" and "Paper Towns"
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Shahzada Dawood from Pakistan, who passed away in the ill-fated submersible "Titan," with his son & 3 others, had been supercharitable with his money. Free treatment for kidney and liver ailments, access to education for underprivileged children, financial contribution to environmental causes, science & technology, research in these fields, and so much more.
This is kind of amazing. I never saw a single mention of this in all the coverage that disaster got.
Quite the opposite - a lot of people took the opportunity to show their true colors and mock the dead, revel in tragedy, and just generally be a bunch of knobs.
Load More Replies...Amazing guy, but I hear his son didn't want to go, and got forced into it :-/
Sal Khan of Khan Academy. There should be more like him in the universe.
his voice is so weirdly soothing so I am easily able to understand it
Load More Replies...oops sorry, just a reflex, i'll be going now
Load More Replies...Also largely funded by Bill & Melinda Gates, Elon Musk, Carlos Slim, Google, and AT&T
Chuck Feeney.
The former owner of the duty free stores at airports.
He gave away billions and only has like a few mil to his name.
Convinced Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to donate their billions before they die
Mostly universities, public universities not private okes, medical research, financing of social healthcare and catastrophic release etc. He created a foundation to give away all his wealth until it was all gone and he did so in secret, never announcing it to anyone until he had given everything away. Institutions who got it had to sign that they wouldn't tell where it came from until he was done and finally told himself. It seems he did good. He's now living a rather humble life.
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Paul Newman
Blue, blue eyes. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" w/Elizabeth Taylor is a total drool fest.
Load More Replies...The Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to use all the money that it receives from the sale of Newman’s Own products to support children, their families, and their communities. - More than $600 million has been donated to thousands of organizations, helping millions of people in the U.S. and around the world.
Many years ago I was treasurer of a little primary school near the Lime Rock race track where Newman often raced. One of our fundraising efforts was a lemonade stand there, and he was said to have been an occasional customer. When the school ran into terrible trouble, I wrote to Newman's foundation, and they sent us a donation which was enough to pull the school through the rest of its last year and saved a lot of hassle and maybe a little more than that for the treasurer who couldn't cover both pay and payroll tax on the dwindling budget. I think the check was signed by his friend and partner A.E. Hotchner, but I'm happy to spread the credit to both. The school went under soon after, but the year ended and the directors stayed out of jail, thanks to that. He was a good actor and a good driver too!
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Warren Buffett I think out of all the rich people he's the one giving up the most money
Pledged to give away half his fortune, mostly via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
I am sad he won't donate to our country's infrastructure though :'-(
Rihanna did more for Barbados than any government
I had to google Rihanna philanthropy - she gives to a lot of charities and foundations but I say no mention of her doing anything specific for Barbados.
She's literally an official national hero of Barbados, what wacky research did you do?? Her foundation runs the Clara Braithwaite Center of oncology and nuclear medicine in Barbados and during covid, alongside the 5 million dollars sent to New York hospitals, she sent 700,000 dollars worth of ventilators to Barbados. Rihanna also has the honorific "The Right Excellent" for life because of her charity and ancestry there.
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Ratan Tata …. Could hit 100 billion sooner than Bezos or Musk
66% of profits generated Tata group goes straight to philanthrophy
He should do something about this: https://www.greenpeace.org/nl/klimaatverandering/57518/wat-tata-van-ons-steelt-de-vervuiling-van-tata-steel-voor-mens-dier-en-natuur/
I live near Tata Steel in the Netherlands and they have been polluting this area and lying about it for decades.
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George Lucas - most of that 4 billion he sold Star Wars to Disney for went into an educational charity.
Sadly mostly those crooked private programs that don't have much impact and are suspected to be a tax write off scam where money gets pushed from one millionaire to the next to allow deduction. So far those programs haven't had any measurable outcome. If it doesn't go to scholarships and public education it's mostly not as great as it sounds.
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Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani yogurt, seems like a decent dude.
I have heard nothing but good things. I'm sure there has been some less than good, but screw that. Let's concentrate on the good.
He will randomly pay off school lunch debts across the country. Easy decision, whose products to buy.
Load More Replies...Chobani makes it a point of hiring immigrants and asylum seekers, and pays well.
Jeffrey Lebowski and his little urban achievers
While you're at it, you should let the teacher know that they forgot to give us homework.
Load More Replies...This is The Dude, that's what you call him. Not Jeffrey Lebowski.
MrBeast. I think no matter if you like it that he monetizes the surgeries or donations, it is still something good he is doing.
If the rich could find a way to monetize helping and giving away to those in need the way he does this world would be much better; but instead they get rich by exploiting the poor and destroying the planet.
Curing thousands of blind patents? And all they had to do was be in a YouTube video for 30 seconds at most? Sounds like a good deal to me. Edit: I don’t think it was “thousands” plural, actually, but still.
He built those wells in Kenya and a couple of people were actually upset about it.
Maby they were trying to keep their own country down? Or they were scamers, hence could not get any more money???
Load More Replies...To sum up the argument against Mr. Beast. "I do nothing for anyone, but the way he does things for people aren't the way I'd do things for people if I actually did things for people, which, as we've touched on before, I don't, but I still don't like how he does, so he's bad."
His fans only see what they want to see. The problem in Africa is not the lack of ressources, but the horrible corruption and lack of structure. Also the very reasonable criticism on what he did gets buried under the headline claiming activists criticising him for silly reasons. The point is, endless organisations have tried to build wells in Africa with more or less success. But all of the wells that have been built that way have fallen to disrepair. They are still there, but unusable, because Africa doesn't have the necessary structures to keep them functioning. Yes he has build a 100 wells, but who will maintain them? Also his campaign is over now, and not once during that campaign did he highlight the African organisations led by natives that are still there, still working, still struggling. If he'd wanted to do good, he'd used his popularity to work with the natives, show who they are and what they do, making them visible. But all he cared for was gaining pats on the back.
He has to monetize in order to have the money to make the changes. He doesn't hoard his wealth, and that's what makes him different....AND that's why other rich people hate him. He's holding a mirror up towards them, and they can't stand it
J K Rowling
Lord have mercy! If she was really transphobic with all her money and influence she could make things much harder for them in the UK. And probably she wouldn't be much worse off than now after only voicing her opinion. She's spending literally tons of money to fight poverty, illiteracy, women issues, etc.
But only the “right kind” of women. Bigots can do good things. That doesn’t erase the bigotry.
Load More Replies...She's also steadfastly refused to 'optimise' her taxes - strongly believes in paying her share given she had to rely on benefits when she ran away from her abusive husband.
She inspired kids who could possibly never ever have picked up a book to READ. Good for her!
Add David (d. 2019) and Charles Koch, Add Ken Langone: the Langone-NYU Health Center in NYU is one of the world's finest, and it became so on the money he made as a founder of Home Depot.
I would rather not have to rely on the "kindness" of the ultra wealthy capitalists and have government do it instead.
Buffett (and I had wanted and do want to like him) said he evades taxes because he can allocate the money "better than the government"... so why doesn't he privately donate to fund our infrastructure?
Load More Replies...How on earth is Elon Musk on the same list as Dolly Parton and Keanu Reeves?!
Lol, I came back here to see the comments for Muskrat and just realized he's been deleted :-) I WANTED TO SEE THE BASHING
Load More Replies...Jerry Cantrell should be in this list. He is a key member of Alice in Chains and other bands and is a solo artist. He has supported many charities for addiction, homeless, assisting with medical costs for Seattle musicians. Since 2009 he has run a fantasy football league, the winner of which donates the profits raised from auctioning off items that every participant donates to a charity of their choice. He auctioned off clothes from special moments in his music career to donate to the Layne Staley Fund (original singer of Alice In Chains who died from a heroin addiction) to assist those with heroin addiction. And so much more. He is a wonderful human with a voice to match.
Adar Poonawalla. CEO of Serum Institute of India. He financed the development of the first really effective Malaria vaccine, and gambled $100M on manufacturing 40 million doses before it received WHO approval. With an 18 month shelf life those doses would have been discarded if WHO approval (which triggers funding) had not been received in a timely manner. SII was founded by his father in 1966 to manufacture locally vaccines and treatments which were being price-gouged by importers. Even though they’ve grown to be the world’s biggest supplier of vaccines, the company still remains deeply committed to supplying life-saving products at the lowest possible cost, so they can actually be available to the people who need them the most. I cannot recommend highly enough finding and watching the recent NOVA episode The Battle to Beat Malaria, currently being shown on PBS stations.
I would rather not have to rely on the "kindness" of the ultra wealthy capitalists and have government do it instead.
Buffett (and I had wanted and do want to like him) said he evades taxes because he can allocate the money "better than the government"... so why doesn't he privately donate to fund our infrastructure?
Load More Replies...How on earth is Elon Musk on the same list as Dolly Parton and Keanu Reeves?!
Lol, I came back here to see the comments for Muskrat and just realized he's been deleted :-) I WANTED TO SEE THE BASHING
Load More Replies...Jerry Cantrell should be in this list. He is a key member of Alice in Chains and other bands and is a solo artist. He has supported many charities for addiction, homeless, assisting with medical costs for Seattle musicians. Since 2009 he has run a fantasy football league, the winner of which donates the profits raised from auctioning off items that every participant donates to a charity of their choice. He auctioned off clothes from special moments in his music career to donate to the Layne Staley Fund (original singer of Alice In Chains who died from a heroin addiction) to assist those with heroin addiction. And so much more. He is a wonderful human with a voice to match.
Adar Poonawalla. CEO of Serum Institute of India. He financed the development of the first really effective Malaria vaccine, and gambled $100M on manufacturing 40 million doses before it received WHO approval. With an 18 month shelf life those doses would have been discarded if WHO approval (which triggers funding) had not been received in a timely manner. SII was founded by his father in 1966 to manufacture locally vaccines and treatments which were being price-gouged by importers. Even though they’ve grown to be the world’s biggest supplier of vaccines, the company still remains deeply committed to supplying life-saving products at the lowest possible cost, so they can actually be available to the people who need them the most. I cannot recommend highly enough finding and watching the recent NOVA episode The Battle to Beat Malaria, currently being shown on PBS stations.
