Coverage of the Gates Foundation
STANDING ROOM: A young boy mimics his elders at a crowded AIDS clinic in Maseru, Lesotho.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
These stories, the product of an 18-month investigation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are based in part on a review of hundreds of foundation grant descriptions, policies, evaluation reports and tax returns. Reporting included interviews with foundation and investment experts; patients, medical professionals and administrators in Lesotho, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa and other African nations; and global health experts in Europe, Africa and the United States.
Hundreds of scholarly articles, books and studies on philanthropy and health conditions in Africa were reviewed, along with thousands of pages of financial and performance data, reports and evaluations from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the GAVI Alliance and other financing groups and aid organizations. Statistical data on health conditions in Africa were obtained from the World Health Organization, the World Bank and UNICEF, as well as national ministries of health and nongovernmental organizations.
See previous articles about the Gates Foundation below.
- 1
Donations to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in Africa have inadvertently put many of those with other basic healthcare needs at risk.
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Partners in Health rejects taking a narrow approach to the AIDS crisis, even helping with food and other needs.
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The Berkshire chairman says it’s too difficult to rate corporate conduct.
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Warren Buffett’s infusion of stock into the foundation conflicts with efforts to help victims. The Gateses are assessing their part.
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The philanthropy’s CEO maintains that divesting from firms that harm society would make little difference.
- 6
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said Thursday that its investment team would consider new exceptions to the firms in which it invests its endowment.
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A decision to review its holdings for their social effects could lead others to rethink their policies.
- 8
Ebocha, Nigeria — Justice Eta, 14 months old, held out his tiny thumb.
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The Gates Foundation invests heavily in sub-prime lenders and other businesses that undercut its good works.
- 12
A sampling of the Gates Foundation’s largest investments*: More than $1.5 billion Berkshire Hathaway Inc.** Canadian government Between $1 billion and $1.5 billion Fannie Mae German government Between $100 million and $1 billion Abbott Laboratories Archer Daniels Midland Co.
- 13
Some foundation trustees shun ethical investments out of concern about inferior returns.
- 14
This series is based on more than 90 interviews and hundreds of documents, including thousands of pages of Gates Foundation grant descriptions and policies, evaluation reports, tax forms, filings to the U.S.
- 15
Transcript: Times reporter Charles Piller took readers’ questions on his story about the Gates Foundation December 17.
