Gates Foundation Reviews Investments

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is rethinking its investments after a two-part investigative newspaper story criticized the foundation for investing its assets in companies that contradicted its mission, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times investigation noted that the Gates Foundation has invested in companies that have ties to tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. It has also invested in corporations that are responsible for environmental damage and are suspected of profiting from illegal practices, such as predatory lending and slave labor.

A statement released by the foundation said it would “review other strategies that can fulfill a social responsibility role, both in terms of their aspirations and in understanding the impact that they may have.”

Philanthropy experts are hoping the Gates Foundation’s decision will prompt other grant makers to pursue similar action.

Some foundations have started to use proxy votes as a tool to force corporate action on social issues, an article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. But a Chronicle survey suggests that foundations rarely get involved in shareholder battles.

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