Man Bids $35,000 to Get Inside Bill Gates' House
How much would you pay to see the inside of Bill Gates' home?
Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is a very charitable man. TechFlash reports that each year the company Gates founded runs a charitable giving campaign. Part of this campaign sees the staff donate products, services and experiences for their fellow employees to bid on during a charity auction. Every year, Bill offers a tour of his Lake Washington home -- and this year the winning bid was astonishingly high.
Last year the tour of Bill's pad went for $8,500. Given that Microsoft matches all the donations, that's a very generous $17,000 for charity. However, bidding this year went well over $17,000. The winning employee bid $35,000, bagging himself a tour with Bill Gates as his guide and appetizers afterward.
TechFlash reports that other items up for auction include the "world's best bologna sandwich," which went for $500, double what it sold for last year.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
-
chowmanga Its good to hear about people giving back to the community, especially in this economy.Reply -
sunflier Bill should sell (5) new Windows 7 retail boxes with a "Gold Ticket" inside.Reply
`Bill Gates and the Microsoft Factory. -
gwolfman sunflierBill should sell (5) new Windows 7 retail boxes with a "Gold Ticket" inside.`Bill Gates and the Microsoft Factory.That's an amazing idea. I know they'd sell like hotcakes... wait, what do pancakes have to do with M$?Reply -
soo-nah-mee Bill Gates gives more to U.S. education then all other U.S. companies combined. That said, does anybody find it a little confusing that a man worth $56 billion is dabbling with contributions in the 5 figure range?Reply -
ssalim So what, 5 figure range. He's doing it often. What do you want him to do, donate 55 billion all at once?Reply -
chowmanga soo-nah-meeBill Gates gives more to U.S. education then all other U.S. companies combined. That said, does anybody find it a little confusing that a man worth $56 billion is dabbling with contributions in the 5 figure range?Reply
It wasn't his money, it was an employee's money. If Bill's already donating more for education than anyone else as you said, why ask him for more? I think Bill shows that even wealthy people are still human and can be humble.