Bill Gates Pledges To Donate 99% Of Fortune, Shut Gates Foundation By 2045 - Business
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has pledged to donate 99 per cent of his remaining wealth — estimated at over $100 billion — to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he announced will cease operations by December 31, 2045. The decision accelerates the foundation’s original wind-down timeline, which was previously set for two decades after Gates’s death.https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/bill-gates-pledges-fortune-2045-gates-foundation-2045-warren-buffet-125050900350_1.html
The pledge marks one of the largest philanthropic commitments in modern history, likely second only to Warren Buffett’s plan to donate his $160 billion fortune, depending on market conditions.
“It’s kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,” Gates said in an interview with the Associated Press.
In a recent blog post, Gates wrote, “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.”
According to Gates, the foundation has already spent more than $100 billion and is now poised to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. The goal is to frontload funding into critical issues such as global health, disease eradication, child and maternal mortality, and poverty alleviation.
In his blog, Gates outlined three major priorities for the foundation’s final phase: eliminating preventable deaths among mothers and children, eradicating infectious diseases like malaria and measles, and ending poverty for hundreds of millions.
“The Gates Foundation’s mission remains rooted in the idea that where you are born should not determine your opportunities,” he wrote. “…With the input from our board, I now believe we can achieve the foundation’s goals on a shorter timeline, especially if we double down on key investments and provide more certainty to our partners,” he wrote.
Legacy and accountability
Founded in 2000 by Bill and Melinda French Gates, the foundation has grown into one of the most influential philanthropic entities globally, shaping healthcare policy and access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries. Following the couple’s divorce in 2021, French Gates left to start her own philanthropic initiative.
Warren Buffett, the foundation’s other major benefactor, recently stated he would direct his remaining wealth to a charitable trust managed by his children.
About 41 per cent of the foundation’s total funds have come from Buffett, with the remainder drawn from Gates’s Microsoft fortune. “Warren, it’s hard to overstate the impact he’s had on me,” Gates said.
The foundation will maintain an annual budget of around $9 billion until its closure, with a shift toward prioritising high-impact investments. CEO Mark Suzman noted that narrowing the focus would be key in the final decades of the foundation’s operations. “Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly?” Suzman asked.
Philanthropy amid global aid cuts
Gates’s announcement comes amid growing skepticism toward foreign aid, especially in the United States. He warned that global progress in health and development could be jeopardised by donor countries scaling back their contributions. He cited recent reductions by the US, Britain, and France as alarming, adding, “It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people.”
In a pointed critique, Gates condemned Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, for supporting deep cuts to US foreign aid. “The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” he told the Financial Times.
Despite these challenges, Gates remains optimistic about the foundation's ability to catalyse long-term change. “Somebody should try and save more lives than I did, and give more money than I did,” he said.
He said, “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.”
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