Bill Gates today announced plans to give away $200 billion — nearly all of his wealth — over the next two decades through the Gates Foundation, an organization focused on global health and other social initiatives.
The foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, will sunset its operations by 2045. The philanthropy has already disbursed $100 billion since its founding.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people. That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned,” Gates wrote on his blog. “I will give away virtually all my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world.”
The news comes as the Trump administration has slashed America’s support for global foreign assistance, spiking U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and working to dramatically cut funding for health and scientific research.
“I don’t need to stress the massive volatility and some setbacks, and massive political and economic headwinds,” said foundation CEO Mark Suzman in a media call. He noted that governments from the U.S. to Europe are cutting back their international support, while the philanthropy is “going to be able to stay steady.”
The foundation has already been ramping up its grant making, issuing $8.75 billion this year, and committing to distributing $9 billion next year.
In sharing the news, the foundation highlighted three focal areas for its work for the next two decades:
- Helping to prevent the deaths of mothers and babies
- Working to end deadly infectious diseases
- Aiding millions of impoverished people with the goal of “putting them on a path to prosperity”
Gates had already committed to giving away the bulk of his wealth. In 2010, the Microsoft co-founder joined his now ex-wife Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett in creating the Giving Pledge, a public vow that they encouraged others to join in which signatories agree to disburse the majority of their fortune in their lifetimes.
Buffett has been a major contributor to the Gates Foundation, which Bill Gates formed with French Gates and his late father, Bill Gates Sr.
French Gates resigned as co-chair of the philanthropy last June, roughly three years after she and Bill Gates announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage. Buffett left his role as foundation trustee shortly after news broke of the divorce.
Both have been “kept in the loop about the plans” to increase funding and wind down operations, said Suzman, who thanked them for their impactful work with the foundation. “They are pleased and excited about today’s announcement,” he added.
Since launching, the foundation has been a leader in the global health arena and says that it has helped save 82 million lives through two key initiatives: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The Gates Foundation has also committed resources to creating technologies targeting people in low- and middle-income countries, including vaccines, diagnostic tools and health treatments.
In 2022, Gates said that he could see the foundation winding down in 25 years, with him and French Gates still around “to help make sure it stays on track.”
In announcing the sunsetting of the foundation today, Gates referenced another legendary philanthropist, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie in 1889 wrote a treatise on the necessity of the ultra rich donating their wealth while still living.
“In the essay’s most famous line, Carnegie argues that ‘the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced,’” Gates wrote. “I have spent a lot of time thinking about that quote lately. People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that “he died rich” will not be one of them. There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
Read the full article here
