Norway fund won't invest in Walmart because they breach 'human rights & labor rights'. Gates objects.

Report from Davos where the super-rich and powerful come to party and to strategize.

Norway has a population slightly larger than the state of South Carolina but its government-run wealth fund has $833 billion in assets, making it one of the largest investors in the world. It owns 1.25 percent of all the shares worldwide, 2.5 percent in Europe, and it has a unique ethical mandate. That sees it avoid companies such as Walmart, which Norway deemed to have breached "human rights and labour rights."

But Bill Gates wants to change all that. The world's richest man is pushing for a profits-only investment strategy for Norway's Government Pension Fund Global. What does he have to say about Norwegian investments? Plenty.

The Gates Foundation, the world's largest, has deep ties to the Walton Family Fund. Taken together, they make up the largest group of investors in corporate-style school reform, including privately-run charters schools. Neither will sign on to current moves to make foundations act in line with ethical standards of social equity or environmental protection.