Bill Gates will give away "virtually all" his wealth over next 20 years
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Bill Gates attends the 11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar on April 5, 2025, in Santa Monica, California. Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Bill Gates, once the richest man in the world, vowed Thursday to give away "virtually all" of his wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next two decades.
- Then, the foundation will close its doors on Dec. 31, 2045.
The big picture: The consequential Gates Foundation — which was founded 25 years ago by Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates — has committed billions to philanthropic efforts and has made vast contributions to improving public health around the globe.
Driving the news: Gates, 69, predicted that the foundation, which has given away more than $100 billion so far, will spend more than $200 billion in the next 20 years.
- Gates, who Forbes estimates is worth over $112 billion, wrote in a Thursday Gates Notes essay that the original plan was to sunset the foundation several decades after he and his then-wife died.
- Now, Gates believes that a "shorter timeline" is feasible.
Between the lines: Warren Buffett, who has contributed tens of billions to the Gates Foundation, said last year that his children will administer a charitable trust after his death that will contain all of the shares of Berkshire Hathaway that Buffett still owns.
- At one point, the Gates Foundation expected to receive the bulk of Buffett's estate, Axios' Felix Salmon reported.
- Gates' announcement, in a way, assures that even without Buffett's bucks, the foundation can accomplish its goals.
Zoom in: Gates pledged three "key aspirations" to guide the foundation's funding over the next two decades, which center on promoting child and maternal health and fighting infectious diseases and poverty.
Friction point: He emphasized that progress is not possible without government cooperation, as the U.S. and other nations slash their foreign aid budgets.
- "The reality is, we will not eradicate polio without funding from the United States," Gates wrote.
- Public health experts have warned that the Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) could have dire impacts on the spread of disease around the world.
- And without consistent, stable funding for US PEPFAR, a study recently published in The Lancet estimated, nearly half a million children could die from AIDS by 2030.
What he's saying: "It's unclear whether the world's richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people," Gates wrote.
- He added, "But the one thing we can guarantee is that, in all of our work, the Gates Foundation will support efforts to help people and countries pull themselves out of poverty."
- Gates struck a more candid tone in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday, where he criticized Elon Musk for the DOGE-driven destruction of USAID.
- "The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one," he said.
Go deeper: Bill Gates says coding matters, even in an AI world
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional quotes and context throughout.
