June 21, 2010

Dear Warren,

Thank you for calling to discuss my participation with you and Bill Gates regarding your philanthropy philosophy. It brought back memories of our conversation 15 years ago when I tried to convince you to do the very same thing. As you might remember, it has always been my belief that leaving enormous wealth for our children does nothing to stimulate their ability to make it on their own. I too believe that all our efforts in creating the wealth that we have would give us a great deal more joy if we were to disperse as much of it during our lifetimes.

We’ve been focused on this work at The Marcus Foundation since our conversation many years ago. For example, The Georgia Aquarium, which is the largest in the world, has given over 12 million visitors the joy of seeing fish and mammals that the overwhelming majority would have never had the opportunity to see in their lifetime. It also helped stimulate our downtown economy offering jobs and new opportunities. The work we do with hospitals, education, and children through the Marcus Autism Center (MAC), has enabled us to take care of well over 36,000 children since its inception and approximately 4,000 children annually. If it weren’t for the MAC in Georgia there would be nowhere for many of these families to go.

I share this with you because of happiness one can conceive by watching the joys of their work. I remember very vividly a child that I had seen about a year ago that was severely autistic in my walk through MAC. Someone pointed this child out to me and when he looked at me he went into total hysteria, e.g. screaming, butting his head against the wall, etc. These actions happen with children of these disabilities. Approximately one year later we were doing a documentary with NBC and I walked into a classroom where the producer asked me to appear with one of the children. There was this same young man and I was horrified he would have another episode as he had in the past. Instead he came over, sat in my lap and talked! By the way, he had not spoken for the six years of his life before going to MAC. I cried, the teachers cried, the cameraman cried, and the parents cried. What a blessing this was to have changed one life and to have had such an impact on a life. I encourage you to always try to see the faces of the recipients you help.

This has happened to me many times over the last 15 years and it’s made my life fuller. To make quarterly profits is one thing but changing just one life is so much better. However, I must say that just because we were involved with charity we didn’t lose our fundamental business acumen. Our staff insists on outcomes for every grant we make. If outcomes are not achieved, we don’t hesitate to withdraw funding. Our money has a value and it took lots of hard work to accumulate. I don’t just write checks—we try to make the organizations we fund better. The results have been rather outstanding.

So Warren, I want to thank you and Bill for doing what you’re doing. I hope you convince many others to enhance their own lives by sharing with others in a smart and business like way. It truly is the secret to longevity of their health and state of mind.

I hope that you and Bill will visit and enjoy The Georgia Aquarium soon.

Sending my best wishes,