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Bill Gates has planned on giving away almost all his money to the philanthropic foundation that bears his name – eventually removing him from the list of the world’s wealthiest people, he said this week.
Microsoft co-founder said he wanted to ‘eventually move off the list of the world’s richest people’.
The Microsoft co-founder announced this week that he’s donating $20 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while reiterating his pledge to give away “virtually all of my wealth to the foundation”.
Gates announced his plans in a Twitter post on Wednesday, writing: “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives. And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”
As I look to the future, I plan to give virtually all of my wealth to the foundation. I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) July 13, 2022
The billionaire Microsoft co-founder, who launched the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 with his then wife, Melinda, said the non-profit plans to increase spending from $6bn annually at present to $9bn annually by 2026.
“To help make this spending increase possible, I am transferring $20bn to the foundation’s endowment this month,” Gates announced on Twitter, later explaining, “As I look to the future, I plan to give virtually all of my wealth to the foundation. I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people.”
The foundation’s efforts include fighting disease and poverty across the globe, including by helping to support the Guardian’s Global Development series.
“I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives,” said Gates, whom Bloomberg reports is worth approximately $113bn. “And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”
Gates, along with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, has already given more than $50 billion to the foundation since 1994. But for the world’s fourth-richest person to achieve his goal, he’ll need to pull off a massive philanthropic effort, giving away nearly all of a fortune that Bloomberg currently estimates at $113 billion.
