Bill Gates announces he plans to give away 99% of his fortune

by Mick the Ram

Bill Gates, currently ranked as the fifth-richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $168 billion, has pledged to give away all but 1% of his personal fortune within the next 20 years.

The 69-year-old Microsoft co-founder has long insisted that he would hand over most of his wealth to his philanthropic “Gates Foundation” but has now announced he intends to accelerate the process.

Since the Foundation’s launch in 2000, it has contributed more than $100 billion to global causes,  in particular working to eradicate diseases and poverty, address climate change and expand access to healthcare and education.

Mr Gates’ stance on philanthropy has long been influenced by his long-time friend and fellow billionaire, Warren Buffett, who himself has already donated tens of billions of dollars to charities.

The two men, along with Gates’ now-ex-wife Melinda French Gates, co-founded the Giving Pledge in 2010 and in the years since, more than 240 billionaires have put their names to it and thus committed themselves to giving away the bulk of their individual fortunes in their own lifetimes.

Dropping of the list of “world’s richest people” has long been Gates’ eventual goal, although critics of his foundation have often claimed that he uses his Foundation’s charitable status to avoid tax.

Even giving away 99% of his riches is still likely to leave Bill Gates as a billionaire.

Parental guidance 

Bill Gates has been strongly influenced throughout his life by his parents moral compass, with his mother famously reminding her son soon after Microsoft became so successful – and he himself became for a time the wealthiest person in the world – that he was “just a steward of any wealth” he accumulated and that he had a “societal obligation” to give back. 

Additionally, his father shared exactly the same view, indeed he was co-chair of the Gates Foundation until his death in 2020. 

Double the contributions

It is estimated by Gates that the Foundation will be able to double the $100 billion it has contributed to global causes already, and be able to hand out another $200 million between now and 2045, depending on factors such as inflation and market performance.

He is understood to be planning to increase its annual budget from $6 billion to $9 billion.

Many good causes on radar

Speaking openly, Mr Gates explained his thinking: “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.” 

Continuing, he went onto list some of the issues important to him that he feels he can help, including; further reducing the deaths of mothers and young children from preventable causes; greatly eradicating diseases like polio, malaria, measles and Guinea-worm disease; and funding advances in education and agriculture in African nations to help “hundreds of millions of people break free from poverty”.

Other massive influences

Mr Gates recalled how Warren Buffett was the first person to introduce him to the idea of giving everything away and he said Buffet “remains the ultimate model of generosity”. 

He also cited the influence of Andrew Carnegie, the steel tycoon, whose 1889 essay: “The Gospel of Wealth” is held up as being what modern philanthropy should be about. He said that he was struck by a line in that piece: “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”

Speaking philosophically, Mr Gates remarked: “I have spent a lot of time thinking about that quote lately,” adding that it influenced his decision to move more quickly with his donations. 

Dig at Musk

Remaining on more or less the same subject, but shifting his attention to the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, he responded to a question put his way regarding his comments about the tech multi-billionaire. 

He had previously accused Musk of “killing children” through cuts to US aid made by Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge.

Reiterating his point, he said: “These cuts will kill not just children, but millions of children and you wouldn’t have expected the world’s richest person to do that. I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money.”

Anniversary is the right time

“It feels right that I celebrate the milestone by committing to give away the resources I earned through the company,” he said to round off his eyebrow-raising announcement, referencing the fact that Microsoft, which is now worth more than $3 trillion, marked 50 years since its founding.