There are 10 million millionaires in the world, with a total net worth of $39 trillion according to the 2010 Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini World Wealth Report. The average millionaire has $3.9 million.Excluding the $1.3 trillion of the Forbes 400 [Sean: these are the billionaires targeted by the Giving Pledge] from this $39 trillion, there is $37.7 trillion in assets among millionaires globally. What if there were a Millionaire Pledge?If through a directed effort we can get 20% of global millionaires to commit to give
With all the electric vehicle talk these days, it’s almost surprising to hear there are still start-ups banking on the future of the combustion engine. However, one such firm got a high-profile vote of confidence fromMicrosoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates, who, according to The Wall Street Journal, contributed to a $23.5 million round of funding. EcoMotors is a Troy, Michigan-based low-emissions engine firm whose motors are designed to run on ethanol, diesel, and good old-fashioned gasoline. According to its website, the company aims to make possible the first five-passenger car capable of 100 mpg highway fuel economy.
Investors pay close attention to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s top disclosed equity holdingspartly due to the foundation’s multi-billion dollar scale, and also because of Gates’ proximity to investment legend Warren Buffett. Lately though, Gates’ personal venture investments have grabbed the most headlines.
Back in 2008, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) bought a 10%, Hong Kong-listed stake in Chinese electric car and battery firm BYD Co (BYDDF). BYD is hardly the typical “Buffett stock,” as indicated by Berkshire’s latest disclosed U.S.-listed equity portfolio, which is chock full of blue-chips likeProcter & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Coca-Cola (KO). But the Oracle of Omaha sees
These 20 institutions could be found in violation of a new federal rule on student-loan defaults if it took full effect today instead of in 2014, as planned. The colleges could escape risk by lowering their default rates before then. Colleges in violation can lose eligibility for federal student aid. For-profit institutions appear disproportionately affected by the new rule. Only three colleges named below are not for-profit: Benedict, Jarvis Christian, and Texas Colleges. An institution would violate
GOOD QUESTION! Does English Need an Academy to Protect It? |
“I think they’re two people who don’t know what they’re doing,” Williams said. “A more rigorous test
June 2010
Robin Lake, Brianna Dusseault, Melissa Bowen, Allison Demeritt, Paul Hill
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Charter management organizations (CMOs), nonprofit entities that directly manage public charter schools, are a significant force in today’s public K–12 charter school landscape.
CMOs were developed to solve serious problems limiting the numbers and quality of charter schools. The CMO model is meant to meld the benefits of school districts—including economies of scale, collaboration among similar schools, and support structures—with the autonomies and entrepreneurial drive of the charter sector.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the major philanthropies funding charter schools invested heavily in CMOs and similar organizations, spending an estimated total of $500 million between 1999 and 2009. Ultimately, those who invest in CMOs want to achieve a significantly higher number of high-quality schools in the charter school sector. Their investments in CMO growth have been targeted to specific urban school districts that have been considered difficult, if not impossible, to reform.
In recent years, the strong reputations of CMOs in cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles have led many policy leaders, including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, to call for greater replication of high-performing charter schools via CMOs, especially as a strategy for turning around or replacing chronically low-performing public schools.
Despite the amount of investment and policy attention on CMOs, there has been limited research to assess their impact and their potential for improving public schools at scale.
The National Study of Charter Management Organization Effectiveness was
