Fortune Magazine<\/em> has an exclusive story about a project among the nation\u2019s billionaires.\u00a0 Here is an excerpt:<\/p>\n Just over a year ago, in May 2009, word leaked to the press that the two richest men in America, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, had organized and presided over a confidential dinner meeting of billionaires in New York City. David Rockefeller was said to have been a host, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Oprah Winfrey to have been among those attending, and philanthropy to have been the main subject.<\/p>\n Pushed by the press to explain, Buffett and Gates declined. But that certainly didn\u2019t dim the media\u2019s interest in reaching for descriptions of the meeting: The Chronicle of Philanthropy called it \u201cunprecedented\u201d; both ABC News and the Houston Chronicle went for \u201cclandestine\u201d; a New York magazine parody gleefully imagined George Soros to have been starstruck in the presence of Oprah. One radio broadcaster painted a dark picture: \u201cLadies and gentlemen, there\u2019s mischief afoot and it does not bode well for the rest of us.\u201d No, no, rebutted the former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Patty Stonesifer, who had been at the meeting and had reluctantly emerged to combat the rumors. The event, she told the Seattle Times, was simply a group of friends and colleagues \u201cdiscussing ideas\u201d about philanthropy.<\/p>\n Without a doubt, that plan could create a colossal jump in the dollars going to philanthropy, though of what size is a puzzle we\u2019ll get to. To begin with, a word about this article you are reading. It is the first public disclosure of what Buffett and Melinda and Bill Gates are trying to do. Over the past couple of months Fortune has interviewed the three principals as the project has unfolded, as well as a group of billionaires who have signed up to add their names to the Gates\/Buffett campaign.<\/p>\n