gates

Hundreds of billionaires pledged to donate their fortune. The philanthropic era of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett has come to an end

by

In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett teamed up on an unusual project: convincing hundreds of millionaires that They didn’t need half his fortune and they owed billions of dollars to philanthropic projects. Sounds crazy, right? Well they got it. However, the model promoted by these two regular figures in the top 10 with the greatest fortunes in the last four decadesappears to be reaching a tipping point. They are coming tax reforms and moral incentives are not supported by the always convincing fiscal incentives. The golden age of philanthropy among millionaires could be in its final stages. Gates and Buffett’s original plan. The project The Giving Pledgelaunched by Gates and Buffett 15 years ago, invited hundreds of the world’s billionaires to sign a non-binding pledge promising to donate at least half of their fortune to charitable causes during their lifetime or after their death. Since its creation, more than 250 billionaires from 30 countries have signed this commitment, adding a combined fortune close to $600 billion in potential donations. according to calculations of Business Insider. Despite the magnitude of the figures, in recent years the viability of this model of collective philanthropy has been questioned. Warren Buffett himself recognized in his last letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that its plan to engage and motivate the ultra-wealthy “hasn’t worked,” assuming the idea of ​​a golden age of mass philanthropy may be coming to an end. According to a recent report of the Institute of Political Studies, of the 256 signatories of the commitment to donate half of their fortune, only nine have fulfilled their promise. Open doors to philanthropy. The approval of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, a fiscal package that imposes a 10% tax to foundations with more than $5 billion in assets, has significantly altered the philanthropic plans of many billionaires. The withdrawal of tax incentives makes donations They are no longer such a priority for great fortunes. According to what he told Fortune Kathleen McCarthy, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society“The insidious thing about this is that it will seriously affect the large liberal foundations like Gates, Ford and Soros”, which contributed millions of dollars to social, health and educational projects. “Whereas conservative foundations are much smaller and will pay a much lower rate,” McCarthy stressed. New ways to donate. This new scenario, which alienates large foundations from the front line of giving, is pushing philanthropists to look for alternative ways to give and modify their strategies. “Billionaires will begin to look for alternative mechanisms when they realize that they are being forced to close their foundations,” explains McCarthy. Practices like direct donation practiced by MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, and her Yield Giving foundation are gaining ground. Your strategy: donate the money directly to the organizations that develop the projects. Without intermediaries or segmentation of funds. According to a report of the Center for Effective PhilanthropyScott has already awarded more than $19.25 billion to 2,450 nonprofit organizations. This is how Bella DeVaan, from the Institute for Policy Studies in the article Fortune“I think she sets the trend and is an ethical reference in the way of donating money, as Gates has been.” Buffett’s family legacy. Although the era of massive philanthropy seems to end, Warren Buffett has not stopped giving. With Buffett’s retirement as head of Berkshire Hathaway, the investor has delegated part of his fortune in donations to the charitable foundations of his three children and his late wife. Annually, the veteran investor has been distributing billions in the form of actions to strengthen the family legacy and ensure that its wealth benefits society. However, in his latest donations from the millionaire a striking absence has been noted: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already does not appear among its beneficiaries. In Xataka | The True Legacy of the Duty Free Founder: How Chuck Feeney Inspired Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Image | Flickr (Fortune Live Media)

We have a stationary high-impact storm at the gates of Spain. And that will translate into 30ºC in November

by

We only have to look at a map these days to realize that we have a pretty significant storm heading our way. It will impact the entire western part of the peninsula and will leave more than 300 l/m2 on the Galician coast. However, it doesn’t seem like it. It doesn’t seem like it at all. But that’s how it is. Storm Claudia (which is the name of the third high-impact storm of the season) will bring rain and cold and wind; but just before that it will bring us a significant thermal rebound. Today, Wednesday, there are many areas of the country with 25 degrees and the nights will not be especially cold (it will not freeze anywhere). Bilbao is going to be 25 degrees and cities like Granada or San Sebastián are close to 30. How is it possible? Naturally, as explained in AEMETthe wind tends to leave the anticyclones and move towards the storms. “In this movement it suffers a deviation to the right of its trajectory so that the exit is not in a straight line but in a wide curve that rotates clockwise.” That is, storms rotate. When we talk about rivers of moisture (or connections with the Gulf of Mexico), we talk about this type of thing: air currents with a lot of humidity that are integrated into Atlantic storms thanks to this turn. The curious thing is that, in that turn, Claudia is pushing the southern air directly into Spain. AEMET What we can expect. Heat. At least, during Wednesday and throughout the country. During Thursday, the most classic effects of the storm (and that includes the cold) will begin to be seen in the west of the peninsula. We are talking about temperature drops of eight or ten degrees. For the weekend, most of Spain will have maximum temperatures below 15 degrees. And then the party begins. In a matter of hours we are going to see a lot of rain, a lot of wind and a considerable sea storm arrive in Spain. The first impact will be in the Canary Islands, but it will be the west of the peninsula the one who will bear the brunt: with winds of 110 kilometers per hour and accumulations of up to 350 liters. They are expected waves of up to four meters on the coasts of Galicia. Image | TropicalTidBits | SrGPicker In Xataka | It’s going to rain in Galicia. It seems normal but it is something more: the prelude to a total change in the weather in Spain

We already know which will be the most expensive data center in the world. If Bill Gates paid it, it would be almost zero

by

Already in 2024 we saw that infrastructure spending for AI was being insane. The trend has not relaxed, quite the opposite. Big tech continues to burn money as if there was no tomorrow (literally) and most of that spending is going to most valuable asset in the AI ​​race: data centers. How much do they really cost? Data centers in numbers Epoch AI has published Frontier Data Centersa complete database about data centers being built in the United States. Through satellite images, public documents and permits, they have obtained information about the estimated construction cost, as well as energy consumption and computing power. The award for the most expensive data center goes to Microsoft Fairwater, whose total cost It could reach $106 billion when completed in 2028. To put it in context, Bill Gates’ fortune is estimated to be 107 billion dollars. It would be fair to pay it. The forecast for Microsoft Fairwater even surpasses Meta Hyperion, the data center that It will be as big as the island of Manhattan which would cost 72,000 million. Next on the list is Colossus 2, by xAIwhose estimated cost is 44 billion dollars. It is closely followed by Meta Prometheus with 43 billion and the Amazon and Anthropic data center in New Carlisle with 39 billion. Epoch AI has collected more data, such as how much computing power each facility will have. This data is measured using the NVIDIA H100 GPUs for reference. They have also calculated the energy demand and who will be the main user of each of them. Below we leave you a table with the key information: Estimate DATE ESTIMATED cost ($) computing (EN gpUS H100) energy demand intended primary user microsoft fairwater September 2027 106 billion 5.2 million 3328 MW OpenAI meta hyperion January 2028 72 billion 4.2 million 2262 MW Goal xai Colossus 2 February 2026 44 billion 1.4 million 1379 MW xAI meta prometheus October 2026 43 billion 1.2 million 1360MW Goal amazon new carlisle June 2026 39 billion 770,000 1229 MW Anthropic oracle stargate July 2026 32 billion 1 million 1180MW OpenAI microsoft fayetteville March 2026 29 billion 920,000 1065MW OpenAI/Microsoft amazon ridgeland September 2027 32 billion 630,000 1008MW Anthropic Dizzying climb Looking at the case of Microsoft Fairwater, and always according to Epoch AI’s forecast, in March 2026 the investment will be $18 billion. A year later, in February 2027, it rises to 35,000 million, just four months later it shoots up to 71,000 million, to reach 106 billion in 2028. The price increase is dizzying and responds to several factors. The first is that the computational cost of training models has been increasing. For example, GPT 4 cost OpenAI over 100 million and rumors before the release of GPT-5 pointed to training rounds of 500 million each. Epoch AI also did an analysis on this and they estimated that the cost of training has multiplied by 2.6 year after year. On the other hand, there is the demand for GPUs, necessary for training the models and the most expensive component of all. An NVIDIA H100 GPU costs 25,000 dollars and its successor, the NVIDIA B200 also known as Blackwell, could be between 30,000 and 40,000 dollars. And this is just the GPUs, many are needed more components to get a data center up and running, such as power generators, high-speed networks or refrigeration, among others. The initial bottleneck was the shortage of GPUs, but it has been overcome by a more fundamental constraint: there is not enough power for so many chips. data centers They consume a lot of energy, Seriously, a lot. To put it in context, in 2024, data centers were already the 4% of United States electricity consumption and it is expected that Demand will double in the next five years. Nobody wants to live near a data center for one reason: mass consumption is raising energy prices up to 267% in nearby areas. Power supply has become a new choke point for the industry. Microsoft is already considering producing its own energy by creating nuclear power plants and others like Google and Amazon are considering taking data centers into space. Image | Microsoft In Xataka | AI data centers are an energy hole. Jeff Bezos’ solution: build them in space

Bill Gates was obsessed with knowing how long his Microsoft employees worked. So I looked at the parking lot

by

All the millionaires who have triumphed in the field of technology They tend to be people of remarkable intelligence, who over time have developed skills that, to the rest of humanity, They seem curious to us at the very least. Jeff Bezos developed an almost unhealthy obsession with optimize time in meetings and Elon Musk He can’t stand anyone opposing him when he has made a decision. Bill Gates, for his part, is known for being especially inquisitive with his employees, developing his own techniques that bordered on toxic to control whether his employees were in the office or already they had gone home. If the boss doesn’t leave, neither will the employees.. In 2016, the founder of Microsoft made some surprising statements on the BBC about how it controlled which employees worked the most hours. One of the things Gates valued most when he ran Microsoft was the commitment and dedication of his employees. “At that time I was quite extreme with work. I worked on weekends. I didn’t really believe in vacations,” he told the British network. The millionaire has an excellent memory for data, which is why he was able to memorize the license plates of his employees’ cars and relate them to their owners to know who was in the offices when he arrived and who had left before him. His partner Paul Allen corroborated Gates’ confession in an interview with Vanity Fair. “Microsoft was a high-stress environment because Bill drove others as hard as he drove himself. He was becoming the foreman who hung around the parking lot on weekends to see who had arrived.” In-person presence is not enough. In addition to being a somewhat toxic attitude towards their employeesGates soon realized that this was not the most effective system to monitor your staff. Verifying the unreliability of this system helped Gates to recognize that presence is not the best indicator for measure employee performance. An approach that, perhaps, the current managers of some companies should review when it comes to design return to office policies. “The Fireproof” Gates. Paul Allen tells in his interview with Vanity Fair a Gates anecdote with an employee who had worked 81 hours in four days to get a project done: “Toward the end of the work week, Gates asked Greenberg what he would be working on the next day. Greenberg notified Gates that he planned to take the next day off, to which Gates responded, ‘Why would you want to do that?’ Gates couldn’t understand it. “He never seemed to need to recharge his batteries.” However, as Gates himself acknowledged when analyzing his own behavior, Working long hours has nothing to do with being more productive. Burnout takes a toll on productivity and can end up being counterproductive to your company’s interests. Furthermore, the company grew so much that it was increasingly difficult to learn all the car license plates. ”In the end, I had to relax when the company reached a reasonable size.” Burned worker syndrome. Overloading employees in this way with eternal hours is one of the main causes of sick leave and resignation among employees. The World Health Organization (WHO) includes the Burnout worker syndrome in your International Classification of Diseases This syndrome affects 10% of workers and in its most severe forms can cause more serious disorders in between 2% and 5% of workers, leading to depression and anxiety. The 2022 Labor Market Guide prepared by Hays detected that more than 30% of the workers surveyed stated that, after the pandemic, the feeling of burnout among employees had increased, being one of the main reasons for many of them to join the company. silent resignation. Take care of employees to improve productivity. Work culture has evolved significantly since the days when Gates was at the helm of Microsoft. Companies increasingly value work-life balanceand they recognize that employees need time to rest and recharge. Even Gates himself has changed his stance on vacations, recognizing the importance of rest for mental and physical health, as he stated in a talk about Alzheimer’s in your YouTube channel. In Xataka | Bill Gates has been a famous “workaholic” but he knew who to hire to solve problems: the lazy ones In Xataka | Bill Gates liked to step on him: his Porsche 911 discovered him on a 2,000 kilometer trip and the police also discovered him Image | Commons

“I told Musk not to donate his money, it would end up in organizations chosen by Bill Gates”

by

Peter Thiel is one of the most influential and controversial names in the technology world, known both for his business success with projects such as PayPal or Palantir, and for his unconventional ideas. about education either religion. Recently, Thiel has generated a lot of debate after Reuters had access to recordings of a series of private conferences in which he warned Elon Musk about where his fortune could end up if he donated it to the wrong people. Peter Thiel and his influence in Silicon Valley. Peter Thiel is a key figure in Silicon Valley, being one of the founding members of the so-called “PayPal mafia“, a group of businessmen who revolutionized technology and currently accumulate great economic and political power. Their role as mentor and investment partner of other majors in the sector, like Mark Zuckerberghas allowed him to control venture capital funds that drive many decisive companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of the figures with whom Thiel has had a particularly complex relationship is Elon Musk, with whom he founded the company PayPal. In transcripts seen by Reuters of Thiel’s private talks, he explained how he warned Musk against donating his fortune to Bill Gates through The Giving Pledgean agreement by which millionaires agree to donate a large part of their assets to social causes. Thiel told his audience: “I told (Elon Musk) that his money would end up in the hands of organizations selected by Bill Gates.” In response to this message, the millionaire said that Musk responded: “What am I supposed to do, give it to my children? It would be worse to give it to Bill Gates,” is recorded in the leaked transcripts. Then Musk ruled out Gates. A few years ago, Bill Gates and Elon Musk held a series of meetings in which Gates proposed a series of impact investments in which the founder of Space X could be interested in investing philanthropically through the Gates Foundation. Within the framework of this approach, the founder and his son Rory They even visited the Tesla factory in Austin. However, when Musk’s donation commitment seemed to come to fruition, the South African millionaire suddenly changed his mind and he sent Gates away in bad waysblaming him for how incoherent that someone who claims to fight against climate change would have short positions (at losses) of a company like Tesla, which worked to reduce fossil fuels. From that moment, the relationship between Musk and Gates they have been like water and oil. Thiel’s story in which he advised Musk to distance himself from Gates, and the abrupt breakdown of philanthropic talks with the Microsoft founder could be related. The fear of global power and the figure of the “Antichrist”. According what was published by Guardianthe transcripts also revealed other concerns of Thiel, who in his workshops warned about the risk of the emergence of a figure of global power, which he figuratively called “Antichrist”, who could emerge from the dominance growing of artificial intelligence. According to Thiel, this entity, which represents a form of power, could be presented as a solution to face global crises such as the climate change or nuclear threatsbut in reality it would end up limiting individual freedoms and promoting a uniformity of thought. As and as pointed out Fortunethis concern is based on his personal interpretation of the biblical text and what he considers the danger of developing science without a solid ethical basiswhich could generate a global system that demands obedience in exchange for order and security. Technology will set you free. Peter Thiel argues that large technological fortunes should not be donated to charitable causes, but rather, in his words, “large technological fortunes should be used to protect human freedom” from the risk of a centralized global system that controls the flow of capital and innovation. The millionaire warns that, if governments and international institutions control investments and innovation, could curb creativity and human potential under the pretext of global security. The Twitter purchase on the part of Elon Musk, his involvement in the Trump campaign and his subsequent role in DOGEshow that Thiel’s words have influenced Musk to reconsider his commitments and think about how to protect the legacy of his fortune in the face of these concerns. In Xataka | Some millionaires didn’t like the ideology of universities, so they created their own university: an “Anti-Woke” Image | Flickr (Gage Skidmore, Statsministerens kontor)

Bill Gates has been a famous “workaholic” but he knew who to hire to solve problems: the lazy ones

by

Bill Gates is one of the most decisive figures in the evolution of technology of the last 40 years. Found one of the most innovative companies of his time can only be achieved through a lot of work. However, Bill Gates himself has stated that he can be a little lazy at times. The technology magnate has been away from the first line of command at Microsoft for some time, and he dedicates all his time and fortune to the philanthropic work carried out since foundation he created with his ex-wife Melinda Gates. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invests in projects that encourage development, education and well-being of people in developing countries and at risk of social exclusion. One of his recent hobbies related to raising awareness about these socially conscious investments has been to create the Unconfused Me podcast in which he chats with personalities related to the scientific, teaching or business fields. In one of his last talks with San Khan (founder of Khan Academy) the magnate confessed that In his school days he was quite lazy. With an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 160, Bill Gates He has always had a knack for mathematics.. However, the millionaire himself confessed in his autobiographical book ‘Source code: My beginnings’he always tried to do as little as possible in class to pass the law of least effort. In eighth grade, his teacher reproached him for his attitude: “How can you be so lazy? You could be very good at this,” the teacher told him. “But we’re not doing anything interesting. I had this idea that the less effort you put in, the cooler you are.” Bill Gates states that, that teacher was crucial in his life since thanks to him his attitude towards learning changed since the teacher provided him with books and resources that encouraged his interest to continue moving forward and achieve a goal. Put a lazy person to solve a problem Bill Gates took his attitude towards effort to the extreme in the early years of Microsoft, when was able to remember car license plates that were parked in front of the Microsoft offices and relate them to their employees to know, at a glance through the window, which employees were still in the office and which had already gone home. In a so competitive scene As is the case with technological innovation, it is surprising to come across a phrase attributed to Bill Gates: “I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” However, in it we can see represented the Bill Gates lazy and unmotivated in his school years. In reality, it’s not that Bill Gates is excited about being surrounded by sloths, but rather the meaning of his statement aligns with what he learned from his eighth grade teacher: the important thing is to have a clear objective. If your goal is not to overwork, then you will find a way to get the job done as easily as possible. The motivation to do something has been so important in Bill Gates’ career that even people around him have used it as a tool to prevent the technology magnate from neglecting his duties at the helm of Microsoft. In Xataka | Bill Gates was so obsessed with driving a Porsche 959 that he managed to change the laws that prevented him from doing so Image | Flickr

Bill Gates had a tendency to procrastination until he found an infallible remedy: Japanese companies

by

Bill Gates is not only famous for his work at the head of Microsoft, but for its enormous commitment and Requirement in the workplace. This demand reached such extremes that he was even able to Memorize cars registration that they had parked in front of the Microsoft headquarters to know which employees were still in the office and those who had gone home. However, the founding millionaire was not always so diligent with his tasks and, as confessed in his latest autobiographical book ‘Code Source: My beginnings’I had the bad habit of hurry the time to study just before the exam. However, over time, and some help from the Japanese, he learned that postponing the tasks was not viable if he wanted to take Microsoft to fruition. Gates’s youth in Harvard Bill Gates reported in his book how his university years in Harvard were marked by the habit of skipping classes and postponing any academic responsibility. His strategy was to study thoroughly only a few hours before exams, a dynamic that he shared with Steve Ballmer, his partner in Harvard and Microsoft command successor years later. “Steve and I paid very little to our classes, and then” we “furiously” Magnate in his book. Both felt comfortable challenging the limits and seeking to approve with the lowest possible effort investment. Gates came to recognize that they faced each exam as an experiment to check how far the good results could go with the minimum effort. This habit of delaying the tasks did not stay at the university, and soon moved to its professional beginnings after the Microsoft foundation. In his 1996 book, “Way to the future“Gates publicly admitted that That bad habit to postpone the tasks until the last moment became a real problem when the company grows. With his attitude, the millionaire not only slowed his work, but also had an impact on Productivity and motivation of the rest of your team. Delaying decisions began to directly affect the morals, mood and results of those who worked with him. “After Paúl Allen and I founded Microsoft, I discovered that developing the habit of delaying things had not been the best preparation to direct a company,” Gates said in his book. Gates himself estimated that he needed “a couple of years” to overcome what he called an “insane cycle”, in which he was lagging behind and generated an unavailable environment for his collaborators. The impact of Japanese customers Although in those days Gates was already beginning to be aware of his problem with procrastination in his tasks, he finished convincing when Microsoft began working with Japanese clients. In his book he pointed out that the relationship with Japanese companies played a crucial role in the process of changing habits. These companies, known for their discipline and iron control of the deadlines, did not tolerate delays. “Among the first Microsoft clients were Japanese companies so methodical that, as soon as we delayed a minute with respect to programming, they sent someone by plane to watch us, as if we were children. They knew perfectly that their man could not help us at all, but remained in our office 18 hours a day to show us how much the subject cared,” the millionaire wrote. “ Gates remembered that delaying with Japanese companies was “somewhat painful” so that external rigor and the pressure of having a vigilante all day attached like a shadow, was the revulsive that Gates needed to modify your time management. The millionaire assured that the process to leave the procrastination behind required a deep Review of your personal routines and professionals. Gates demonstrated that, although the transformation was not immediate, the Derived learning of those demands and rigor of its Japanese customers It was decisive to redefine both its personal development and Microsoft’s work culture. In Xataka | Bill Gates was so obsessed with driving a Porsche 959 that he managed to change the laws that prevented him Image | Flickr (Statsministerens Kontor)

Bill Gates was concerned

by

In addition to dedicating much of his time to fighting for him Epidemia control and eradicate diseases such as malaria and different Diarrheic fevers Throughout the planet, one of Bill Gates’ main concerns has been the Obtaining sustainable energy. Something in which Microsoft’s founder has invested a huge amount of money. One of those investments has been Terrapowera company founded by Bill Gates in 2006 dedicated to the development of New generation nuclear reactors. Its objective is to create a safer, efficient and less waste energy, highlighting projects such as the Traveling Wave Reactor (Traveling Wave Reactors or TWR) and the Natrium reactor of molten salts. Gates wants to end the polluting freighters For him Natrium developmentTerrapower had the collaboration of HD Hyundai, one of the world’s largest naval builders based in South Korea. Now Bill Gates has renewed that commitment To carry that alliance a little further and advance in the development of small nuclear modular reactors (SMR) that could revolutionize the Cargueros ship propulsion of great tonnage. This collaboration represents a significant step to reduce maritime transport emissions, responsible for 3% of CO2 global emissions, comparable to those issued by countries Like Germany or Japan. The ambitious project seeks to extend the use of these reactors beyond land plants, integrating them into ships capable of traveling long distances with zero direct emissions. As confirmed In a statement HD Hyundai, La Naviera is already developing a container convener with capacity for 15,000 TEU promoted by SMR, with investments of more than 200 million dollars and the expectation of operating these ships around 2030. For its part, Terrapower provides the technology of its fourth generation Natrium reactor with liquid sodium cooling and thermal storage in molten salt, recognized for its high efficiency and safety. The alliance between Terrapower and HD Hyundai made the SMR possible The first 2024 alliance between Terrapower and HD Hyundai was an important impulse to the development of Gates Startup SMR reactors, promising a lower generation of waste in the process and better adaptation to energy demand due to its small size. In that agreement, both companies joined to manufacture the reactor vessel for the Natrium’s first land plantshowing a synergy that is now extended to climb the production and application of these SMR at the commercial level, including their use in maritime propulsion. SMR reactors (Small Modular Reactors) They are actually small compact nuclear plants with modularized design, which facilitates its series manufacturing and reduces operational costs. In addition, when using advanced technologies such as liquid sodium cooling, its use is safer in mobile scenarios such as its installation on a cargo ship, eliminating common risks in traditional nuclear energy, such as overpressure. On the other hand, their size allows to integrate them into small spaces which opens a whole range of options for its use at a commercial level as substitutes for the big diesel engines that move the gigantic charges who vertebrate world trade routes. This flexibility opens new opportunities not only in the maritime sector, but also in green hydrogen production and as support for floating electrical networks. As Chung Kisun, executive vice president of HD Hyundai, points out through the official statement From the company, “this will mean a turning point in the construction of a global nuclear supply chain and in the advancement of the change of energy paradigm.” Chris Mild, CEO of Terrapower, adds that “the association with HD Hyundai allows us to accelerate the commercialization of Natrium reactors and create market opportunities worldwide.” In Xataka | Everyone thinks that this unique yacht is from Bill Gates, although no one has ever seen it on board: it is sold for 645 million dollars Image | HD Hyundai, Flickr (World Bank Photo Collection)

Bill Gates was so obsessed with driving a Porsche 959 that he managed to change the laws that prevented him

by

Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co -founder is, in addition to one of the richest men in the worlda passionate about Supercars that Porsche manufactures. So much so that he even had to fight for more than a decade for the US government to change a law that would allow him to drive his Porsche through the streets of Seattle. Thanks to your perseverance, today Millionaires lovers of supercarlike Elon Musk or Larry Ellison, they can have their garages full of limited editing exotic hypercoches and drive them. The story of a Porsche 959 parked in customs Bill Gates is a great passionate about technology and engineering, so in 1987, he commissioned a brand new Porsche 959 that has just been presented. At that time, 959 was one of the most advanced supercarincluding one of the first biturbo engines with total traction and an electronic toe. The six -cylinder and 2.8 -liter engine of 959 delivered 450 horsepower and was able to reach 317 km/h. A prodigy of technology that the young and already millionaire Bill Gates did not resist driving. However, when his Porsche 959 arrived in the United States, he was held at Seattle Customs. The reason: the strict shock test imposed by US laws had not passed, and that prevented him from being able to circulate on public roads. The Porsche 959 was A technological revolution By the end of the 80s, a supercar that Porsche had developed with a huge expenditure that would never recover For direct sale. Due to the high cost that would add to the list of development expenses that they were not going to recover with sales, the German brand refused to perform the shock tests required by the United States. This left the Porsche 959 in anyone’s land and could not legally circulate in the country, and Porsche did not want to adapt it to comply with the regulations. Bill Gates then found an important problem, since his precious Porsche of the only 337 units were manufactured, he was CUSTOMS IN CUSTOMS of Seattle. Bill Gates’s obsession for that particular model led the millionaire to an unpublished situation that forced his brand new car to remain retained in Seattle customs for no less than 13 years. To ensure that he remained there, the millionaire paid throughout that time the $ 28 per day required by the Port Authority for keep the car parked In your deposit, adding a total of more than $ 138,000 for this concept for more than a decade. The Law “Show and Display” Bill Gates’ tenacity was essential to change this situation. Not satisfied with accepting that his car was confiscated in customs, the billionaire gathered the best lawyers and undertook a legal battle against US authorities to ensure that his Porsche 959 could legally circulate. For more than seven years, Gates pressed Washington to change the legislation and allow an exemption For importation and the use of certain rare and collectible cars that are not officially sold in the United States. In this way, the door opened to them US Millionaires and Collectors They can buy these exotic units and limited editions, although they do not meet certain legal traffic demands. Bill Gates’ perseverance was fruit and, in 1999, President Bill Clinton signed the Law “Show and Display” which allows certain historical or technologically relevant vehicles to be imported and driven under special conditions. This law only affects cars with less than 500 manufactured units and special editions, and limited its driving to no more than 2,500 miles per year (about 4,023 kilometers). These limits emphasized the orientation of the law to allow entry to collection pieces and rare units, not to regular use cars. Thanks to this law, the Porsche 959 of Gates was finally able to leave his captivity in the Customs of Seattle and circulate through the streets of the US. In Xataka | The fastest supercar of the 80s no longer beats speed records. Now height batting after falling from a truck Image | Porsche, Flickr (Government Tom Wolf)

On his way to become the great resort of Europe, Spain is at the gates of a milestone: 100 million tourists

by

There are figures that are more than figures. For some time, the Spanish tourism sector fantasizes with one that says a lot for example about its obsessions, objectives or drift that the industry has followed over the last years: exceed the brand of 100 million foreign visitors annually. In 2024 Spain stayed close, with almost 94 million of foreign travelers, and if things do not twist There are those who believe that this year will grow until the milestone of the three digits will crown. The big question is … What tells us about Spanish tourism? A figure: 100 million. The figures are just that. Figures Sometimes, however, they are loaded with symbolism, as the Spanish tourism sector is checking, it has long immersed in the race for exceed the barrier of the 100 million annual visitors. Last year he stayed close to that round figure, with a balance of 93.8 million of foreign tourists (10.1% more than in 2023), and since then there are many The voices that They have theorized (for and against) on whether the coveted milestone of the three digits will be reached throughout 2025. Is it possible? The million dollar question. At the beginning of summer June observatur I saw it feasible As long as they clarified, the bullish trend is maintained and the market is not shaken by unforeseen events. Others believe that Spain will keep honey on the lips and will not pass from 98 million of tourists or even They slidebased on the INE, which in 2024 was already pulverized by the 100 million mark. A percentage: 4.7%. Vaticinios and elucubrations apart, for now the most reliable track we have to know if Spain will or may not crown the 100 million summit is the statistic of border movements of the INE, which it already brings A ‘photo’ of the first semester of 2025. What does it show us? That there are reasons for optimism. And caution. Between January and June the flow of tourists that visited Spain grew 4.7% to touching 44.5 million, which approximates the country to the annual milestone. Well, right? Yes. And no. That balance hides another less flattering reading. In recent months, the flow of international tourists has clearly slowed down, which shows doubts in turn about the growth rate in the remaining of 2025. Between January and April the influx of international visitors grew between a 3.8% and 10.1%but in May marches until staying in the 1.5% And in June marked 1.9%. Taking into account that in 2024 Spain received 93.8 million tourists, to reach 100 million this year should rise together 6.6%. “The power of banality”. In A column published recently in The country Óscar Perelli of the Master, vice president of Execeltur, took importance to whether the three digits will be crowned this year, the one that comes or the next. “The possibility of reaching in 2025 the 100 million arrivals of international tourists to Spain (not tourists, some visit us several times a year) has raised an exaggerated interest,” warns. “It is the power of round figures and banality.” In his opinion there are other equal or even more relevant parameters, such as domestic demandthe duration of the average stay or the visitor spending. “The important thing is that in 2025 tourism will generate 220,000 million euros in Spain, it will exceed three million jobs, with a daily volume of tourists (Spanish and foreigners) somewhat higher than 7.4 for every hundred residents,” Point out. For now, the Ministry of Industry Calculate that during the first semester the expense of foreign tourists has exceeded 59.6 billion euros. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Beyond the figures. Although it is true that the milestone of 100 million is only that, a milestone, a symbolic brand, actually helps to understand some keys to the tourism sector. The main, saturation. As he is headed towards 100 million visitors or fools with the idea of overcome France and become the busiest destination on the planet (something feasible in 2040, According to Google and Deloitte calculations), Spain dealt with the effects of hypermasification tourist, which has already derived in protests in The streets. Throughout the last months there have been marches in Catalonia, Balearics, Canary Islands either Cantabriabetween Other parts of the countrywhich warn about the effects of massification and cry for a more sustainable economic model. Among other reasons for The impact that has had on the housing market the proliferation of tourist floors, which has even led to local, autonomic and state administrations has moved token for brake to your offer. Going down to detail. The career of the 100 million annual visitors also hides another reality that has marked the tourist drift of the country. As The flights And the accommodation was increasing until reaching record levelsSpain has become more a destination For foreigners than for premises. The reason is very simple: often the latter are already equal or even more profitable travel abroad than to the Canary Islands or Balearic Islands. Prices They have climbed so much that there are even British changing The Spanish coast for Morocco. What do the data say? The INE provides some data that help to better understand that reality. His Frontur statisticson tourist movements at the borders, it shows that in 2024 Spain received 93.8 international tourists10.1% more than the previous year. The growth was led by the British, French and Germans and the most demanded destinations were Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. If we talk about the flow of Spanish tourists the photo is quite different. The Family Statistics that measures the trips made by the population resident in the country reflects that in 2024 the Spaniards we made 184.4 million trips, 0.8% less than the previous year. This setback hides however an even more interesting reading: when we plan our vacations, the Spaniards look more at a time with more interest the destinations located outside our borders. “Internal destination (trips) decreased 2.3% while those … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.