The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [wiki] set its own lifespan (or death, if you will). The world's largest (transparently operated) charitable organization decided that there's no life in perpetuity in its future:
In a statement posted on the charity's Web site, dated November 29, the foundation said: "We will be spending all of our resources within 50 years after the last of Bill's or Melinda's death." The news was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.
"The decision to focus all of our resources in this century underscores our optimism for making huge progress and for making sure that we do as much as possible, as soon as possible, on the comparatively narrow set of issues we've chosen to focus on," the foundation said in the statement.
Link - via Blue's News
Dear readers,
I highly appreciate Bill Gates and Melinda Gates for taking their responsibilities; and in my opinion we really need more people like them. Not many rich people are willing to use their wealth (and influence) in the non-violent fight against poverty and injustice. The main goal of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to attack global problems being ignored by governments and other organizations, and I am convinced that their foundation will make a difference!
Yours sincerely,
Maurits van den Noort
University of Bergen
Norway
Brilliant idea!