Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has announced plans to donate 99% of his estimated $168 billion fortune over the next two decades, culminating in the closure of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation by December 31, 2045.
“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,” Gates wrote in a blog post marking the foundation’s 25th anniversary.
The 69-year-old billionaire expects the foundation to distribute approximately $200 billion by 2045, depending on financial markets and inflation. This represents a significant acceleration of his philanthropic timeline, as the foundation was originally set to continue operating for decades after his death.
Since its founding in 2000, the Gates Foundation has already disbursed more than $100 billion toward global health, education, and poverty alleviation initiatives. The organization has helped save an estimated 82 million lives through increasing vaccine access in low-income countries and funding efforts to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
In its remaining years, the foundation will focus on three main goals: eliminating preventable childbirth deaths, eradicating deadly infectious diseases, and lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty.
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Gates expressed concern about wealthy nations scaling back foreign aid budgets, particularly criticizing recent cuts made under cost-saving measures led by Elon Musk. “It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for their poorest people,” Gates noted.
Despite the foundation’s enormous impact, critics have questioned its outsized influence over global health agendas and decision-making bodies.
According to reports, the remaining one percent of Gates’ fortune, approximately $1.6 billion, may ultimately go to his three adult children: Phoebe, Rory, and Jennifer.
