The global free market system is a double-edged sword that catapults some entrepreneurs into the realm of billionaires, while leaving much of the world in extreme poverty. Some who have benefited have reflected on their own successes, and believe in what they see in the mirror—namely, that fostering capitalism among the world's poorest is the best solution to the plight of the poor.

Billionaires like George Soros, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner are the shining examples of the successes the free market has to offer entrepreneurs. When these billionaires became philanthropists, they sought to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable economic development. Some choose to affect change through economic development programs. Others through improving the conditions that engender poverty and stifle economic growth, such as lack of education, poor health, and degradation of the environment.

Soros
George Soros, President and Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, and a principal advisor to the Quantum Group of Funds was extraordinarily successful with his flagship Quantum Fund, boasting an average 31% annual return over its 32-year history. Currently he is also the Chairman of The Open Society and the Soros Foundations Network, a group of philanthropic foundations operating in over 50 countries, focused primarily in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 2000, the Network's total expenditures reached almost half a billion dollars.

The foundations that function under Soros's aegis are influenced by the work of Karl Popper, who defined an "open society" as one where there is a reliance on the rule of law, the existence of a democratically elected government, a diverse and vigorous civil society, and a respect for minorities and their opinions. Soros strives to make capitalism more stable and equitable through his philanthropic efforts, and he is committed to doing so on a local or national level. He believes that the globalization of financial markets and multinational corporations have a negative influence on local economies by pulling capital out of emerging economies. His Economic and Business Development Program (EBDP) promotes the restructuring of emerging economies to achieve prosperity and sustainability through microfinance, small business development, local economic initiatives, and entrepreneurship education on a local level.

Development of a small business culture can be a dramatic step forward for the economic and civil health of an emerging economy, but entrepreneurs trying to lead the way are often denied credit because of a lack of business experience, insufficient credit history, or underdeveloped national banking systems. The EBDP works with the Soros Economic Development Fund to make loans to micro-and small businesses. Thinking long term, the Program also teaches business management and economic skills to business owners and school children, in an effort to build and sustain a market economy into the future.

McCaw
Craig McCaw became a billionaire through his successes in the cable television and wireless communications industries. He built a family-owned cable TV company with only 4,000 subscribers into one of the nation's largest cable operators, serving 450,000 subscribers. His McCaw Cellular Communications was the leading provider of cellular communications when it sold to AT&T in 1994. He is now chairman of Teledesic LLC, which aims to build a satellite-based, broadband "Internet-in-the-sky" to enable worldwide wireless Internet access.

Through the Susan and Craig McCaw Foundation, McCaw focuses much of his philanthropic efforts on global economic development programs. In 2001, the McCaws gave $2 million to the Grameen Foundation, an organization that provides micro-credit loans of under $200 in 34 countries, mostly to women who want to start income-generating businesses. By removing the need for collateral in very poor societies, Grameen allows people to start their own businesses and begin their ascent from poverty.

McCaw also gave $15 million in 2001 to the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Mandela's Foundation for Community Development. While The Nelson Mandela Foundation focuses on promoting democracy, education, and health care in Africa, Mandela's Foundation for Community Development works on a very micro level in Mozambique to focus on strengthening self-reliance and increasing financial resources within the community. In addition to building schools and training teachers, the organization implements income-generating activities for more than 130 women, and provides micro-credit funds for about 1,000 families.

Case
Steve Case was a born entrepreneur who, as a child, started a conglomerate selling everything from seeds, to magazines, to greeting cards. He went on to work for Proctor & Gamble, develop pizzas for Pizza Hut, and initiate an online service at Commodore. Eventually he started his own online service provider, America Online.

According to the Digital Divide Network, economic development is closely tied to the "digital divide," or the gap between those who can effectively use new information and communication tools and those who cannot.

Case believes strongly in the power of technology to overcome disadvantage. In 2001, The Steve and Jean Case Foundation gave $10 million to PowerUp: Bridging the Digital Divide . According to the Digital Divide Network, economic development is closely tied to the "digital divide," or the gap between those who can effectively use new information and communication tools and those who cannot. A community with a technology-literate population is more likely to attract and sustain new businesses, and these new businesses in turn attract more well-educated, technology-literate people into the area. Through support of PowerUp, Case hopes to create technologically literate communities that cannot only compete in the free market economy, but in the increasingly digital economy.

Gates
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now the largest foundation in the world, with an estimated $24.2 billion asset base at the end of 2001. To be in compliance with federal philanthropy laws to donate 5% of the overall endowment each year, the Foundation must give away roughly $3.3 million per day, or $1.2 billion a year. The Foundation focuses much of its efforts on global health issues, with the goal of improving worldwide quality of life and economic development, and bringing the incredible burst of medical science and information technology of the late 20th Century to the poor of the 21st Century, who still do not have access. Having started programming computers at the age of 13, dropped out of Harvard in his junior year to start Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen, and as current Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corporation, Gates knows a thing or two about technology.

"We can bridge the gap in global health inequity and by doing so foster social and economic stability," says Gates of his foundation. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Commission on Macroeconomics and Health released a report in December 2001 documenting the close link between improved health and economic development. It has found that getting certain kinds of crucial health care to the world's poor could save millions of lives, decrease poverty, and promote economic development. The Gates Foundation donates millions each year in direct response to WHO's call to arms, specifically working to help eradicate AIDS/HIV, vaccine-preventable diseases, and improving reproductive and child health in the developing world. In theory, when people throughout the world no longer have to worry about basic health care issues that the industrialized world takes for granted, they will be able to focus on building sustainable wealth.

Turner
Ted Turner is founder of CNN and Turner Broadcasting, owner of the Atlanta Braves, and of the entire MGM film library, among other things. Always outlandish, he was expelled from college for inviting a girl to his room. He is also known for having arrived drunk to claim his prize after winning the America's Cup in 1977. However, in the mid-1980s Turner began to throw his energy into more productive ventures, and entered the realm of philanthropy. Speaking of that which he knew, in 1996 he told The New York Times, "all the money is in the hands of these few rich people and none of them give any money away." Foreseeing terrorist events in our more recent history in the U.S., Turner added that, "It's dangerous for them and the country. We may have another French Revolution and there'll be another Madame Defarge knitting and watching them come in little oxcarts down to the town square and BOOM! Off with their heads!"

The Turner Foundation is devoted to preservation and conservation of the earth's natural and human resources. "I see the whole field of environmentalism and population as nothing less than an effort to ensure the survival of the entire human species," he says. Through his foundation, he gives millions of dollars to protect the environment and reduce population growth.

His most famous gift, however, was his $1 billion, 10-year pledge in 1997 to the United Nations Foundation and other charities that support the UN's economic, environmental, social, and humanitarian causes. As part of that gift, the UN Foundation has been receiving $100 million a year to devote to numerous programs, some of which support economic development. An example is a project begun in 2000 to increase secondary school enrollment for girls from its current level of 14% in Mauritania, so that they have the education to actively participate in the socio-economic development of their country. In 2001, The UN Foundation also invested in the African Rural Energy Enterprise Development initiative to give start-up financing to entrepreneurs to deliver affordable and renewable energy services based on solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and geothermal technologies.

The four men profiled above are icons of entrepreneurial successes in corporate America, and they are rich. Filthy rich some might even say. No matter what you call them, the Billionaire Philanthropists are paying attention to the world outside. With all of their accumulated wealth recirculating into the poorest corners of the global free market economy, these billionaires are providing avenues for global entrepreneurs to succeed. With the right programming and a whole lot of hard work (and luck), it could mean a sustainable exit from poverty for the clients they serve.

Contributed by Greer J. McPhaden, a freelance writer in New York City. She writes on topics ranging from social responsibility, to science, to European history. She can be reached at greermcphaden@hotmail.com.

To read another Global Envision article about how business can help allieviate poverty, see Business Can Lead Global War on Poverty.

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