Famous billionaire to donate 99% of his wealth, shut down foundation
Famous billionaire to donate 99% of his wealth, shut down foundation
Bill Gates, the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder, has revealed plans to donate nearly his entire $200 billion fortune, leaving just 1% for personal and family use. Over the next two decades, he intends to channel his wealth through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he says will close permanently by December 31, 2045.
Since its founding in 2000, the Gates Foundation has already disbursed more than $100 billion toward global health, education, and poverty reduction.
It has played a pivotal role in vaccine development, emergency relief efforts, and disease eradication.
Among its most celebrated achievements are saving over 80 million lives through collaborations with initiatives like Gavi and the Global Fund, and helping cut global child deaths from diarrhea by 75% through the rollout of a rotavirus vaccine.
Despite ongoing debate over Gates’ influence on global health policy, he remains unwavering in his mission.
Writing on his foundation’s blog, Gates explained that a 20-year sunset allows enough time to maximize impact and ensure a responsible wind-down of operations.
Writing on his Gates foundation blog, he wrote in part: “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.
He added, “That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned. 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. And on December 31, 2045, the foundation will close its doors permanently.
“This is a change from our original plans. When Melinda and I started the Gates Foundation in 2000, we included a clause in the foundation’s very first charter: The organisation would sunset several decades after our deaths. A few years ago, I began to rethink that approach.
“More recently, 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.
“I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished in our first 25 years.
“We were central to the creation of Gavi and the Global Fund, both of which transformed the way the world procures and delivers lifesaving tools like vaccines and anti-retrovirals. Together, these two groups have saved more than 80 million lives so far. Along with Rotary International, we have been a key partner in reviving the effort to eradicate polio.
“We supported the creation of a new vaccine for rotavirus that has helped reduce the number of children who die from diarrhea each year by 75 percent. Every step of the way, we brought together other foundations, non-profits, governments, multilateral agencies, and the private sector as partners to solve big problems—as we will continue to do for the next twenty years.
“I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone,” he added.
