As Gates Foundation Grows, Critics Question Methods
About a thousand people joined Bill and Melinda Gates Thursday night to celebrate the opening of the foundation's new campus in Seattle.
"You know when you work on a project like this you start with a goal," Melinda Gates said. "And at the end of the day, this campus is about us having an impact on the world for the people we serve, whether they are in Bangladesh or in Boston or in Botswana or Nigeria."
The foundation spends most of its money on global health, with sizable sums going to global development and efforts to improve public schools in the U.S.
In order to keep its tax-exempt status, the foundation has to give away about $3 billion a year. Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, says the foundation's influence goes far beyond that.
Taking Over?
"They're influencing governments in lots of different ways — and