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When the world’s richest man, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said he would rather create jobs then be a Santa Claus, he opened a debate on whether distributing personal wealth was the way to go about solving the world’s problems.

One may agree with Slim that you should teach a man to fish, not just give him a fish. Although Slim has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to his own charities and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he is not a part of the Gates and Warren Buffett’s  “Giving Pledge” initiative, in which billionaires promise to donate half their wealth for philanthropy.

Buffett, however, thinks one can create jobs and be Santa Claus at the same time. “When I give away my Berkshire Hathaway shares, they have no utility to me and great utility to others, and Berkshire Hathaway has all the money to invest that it has had before,” says Buffett.

“I mean, even Santa Claus employs some 12 elves,” says the legendary Buffett on a lighter note.

For Buffett, there is no point giving it away if you can’t apply it well. “There are now some good examples of where people have put their money to very effective purposes, but they have had to work hard on the professionalization and the institutionalization of their philanthropic arms,” he adds.

India has the largest number of billionaires in Asia after China, but when it comes to philanthropy, the country does not stack up well. “The biggest difference, both in the U.S. and in India, are from the ones who are receiving first generation wealth, and I am sure a very high percentage of them would be giving it back to the society. As companies get bigger, a lot of people would be inspired to do something for the society,” says Bill.

One of the most successful entrepreneurs of our times, Bill Gates, says there is no simple formula for a person to make a billion. “The society sees role models and success stories that inspire a lot of people. As you improve your education system, build more universities and allow more people to start businesses, you are giving them a chance to improve the society, either by creating new companies, or inventing new things. We have a lot of collaboration, for example, with companies that are creating low-cost vaccines and see opportunity in many fields where bright Indian minds come forward and improve the world. It’s on those areas that I hope people move up the success ladder as fast as possible,” says Bill.

Melinda, who is a more frequent visitor to India because of the Gates Foundation, says in neither China nor India do they have people coming asking to make any kind of commitment to invest in philanthropy. “A lot of first-time entrepreneurs realize the need to give back to the society, make a difference and have an impact,” Melinda says. Stressing that India would find its own unique approach, Melinda felt, “Philanthropy in India, so far, has been what we call feel-good philanthropy, instead of outcome or results-based philanthropy.”

While the trio was in India to spread the message of philanthropy, it is by no means an easy task to ask anyone to loosen their grip on their money. As the Oracle of Omaha puts it, philanthropy is never easy. “While investing, I look at events that are an almost sure-shot certainty, because I understand the business very well or the probability of success is very high. In philanthropy, you are tackling the problems of society, which are generally very tough ones and which have been resisted for decades and are difficult to overcome. In philanthropy, success is measured in decades rather than a few years, but it doesn’t mean that you do not venture. It is a very different game,” says Buffett.

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Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Giving Pledge, Melinda Gates, philanthropy, Warren Buffett