I Like Him Better Today

[poliphilo]

I was asked in a survey for my opinion of the Virgin empire and I wrote (and I quote) "I can't stand Richard Branson; he's so vain".  This morning comes the news that Branson is planning to give half his fortune to help make an "equitable and peaceful world". and I regret being so mean.  Andrew Carnegie- the Scots-American steel magnate- used his fortune to build libraries. (There's a very handsome Carnegie Library- one of 2,509- just down the road from my dentist's in Royton.) "The man who dies rich dies disgraced," he said. It's an ethic that sweetens capitalism. Bill Gates started the modern fashion for philanthropy on a grand scale and other plutocrats are catching on. You want a legacy? You want to be remembered with affection like Carnegie? Then don't just sit on it,  give it away.