ExcessvsNeed
Excess

Gates' $30.8M Art Buy

Bill Gates & Melinda Gates · Paid $30.8 Million for Leonardo Da Vinci's Codex Leicester Manuscript

$30.8 million
Need

Could have saved

5,600

lives from malaria

GiveWell estimates its top charities save a life for $3,000 to $5,500. We use the higher figure: $5,500, the cost through Against Malaria Foundation bed nets. GiveWell, How much does it cost to save a life?

Gates bought Leonardo da Vinci's illustrated scientific manuscript at Christie's for $30,802,500 on November 11, 1994.

Or it could have

  1. 5,600

    lives from malariaGiveWell estimates its top charities save a life for $3,000 to $5,500. We use the higher figure: $5,500, the cost through Against Malaria Foundation bed nets. GiveWell, How much does it cost to save a life?

  2. 281,301

    hungry kids for a whole yearNo Kid Hungry: $1 can help provide 10 meals for kids. Three meals a day for 365 days is 1,095 meals, about $110 per child per year. No Kid Hungry, What your dollars can do

  3. 770,063

    people clean drinking watercharity: water: about $40 funds clean water for one person, on average, in rural communities. charity: water, How much clean water will my donation provide

  4. 1,726

    homeless veteransAt the U.S. median rent of $1,487 a month (Census, 2024), about $17,844 a year. U.S. Census Bureau median gross rent, via USAFacts

  5. 863

    families escaping abuse a safe home for two yearsThe federal transitional housing program for survivors pays market rent for up to 24 months. At the U.S. median rent of $1,487 a month (Census, 2024), that is about $35,688 per family. U.S. DOJ Office on Violence Against Women, Transitional housing

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Gates' $30.8M Art Buy, $30.8 million, vs 5,600 lives from malaria

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The purchase: Guinness World Records. The full story on Rich vs Reality →