Bill Gates: Changing the world...again

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What would you do with $55bn? Buy a massive house? Fancy car? Island off the coast of Java? Or would you sit there, sipping a martini while lounging in your pool of money, and say to yourself "Ok, now that the money has been made, how can I change the world for the better with it?"
Well, Bill Gates has done all of the above (minus, perhaps, the island and the swimming pool of money part). After changing the way the world operates with his Microsoft Windows operating system (granted, I am an Apple guy myself, but I have to give credit where credit is due), he has amassed enough wealth to look at the world and think about how he can leave a lasting impression...for the second time.
Together with his wife Melinda, he has started the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable foundation in the world...and when I say large, I mean huge. Take an initial endowment of $29.2bn and add to that the $31bn donation by Warren Buffett, who decided to give his money to the only man in the world who made more than he did, and you have over $60bn in 'save the world' money...and with such an exorbitant amount, you might be able to do just that.
The Gates Foundation has already taken steps towards improving the quality of life for millions around the world. Their main focuses are global health, education, and various libraries and institutions around the Pacfic Northwest. Some notable donations have been a $750m donation to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and immunization, and, more recently (try yesterday), a whopping $287m that was donated towards HIV research. This money will be divided amongst 165 researchers across 19 countries, who will be sharing their information and comparing findings with the other researchers, all done in real-time.
With all the chaos in the world today (Mumbai bombings, Lebanon crisis, earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia), reading about positive change and optimistic outlooks are a breath of fresh air. With Bill Gates, a man who is known for making money (and, I'll bet, is damn good at managing and allocating it), leading the charge towards improving the quality of life of the world's population, caring not about color, race, religion, or nationality, but instead about mankind as a whole, who knows...the world might turn out ok after all.