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Bill Gates, billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder, has declared his intention to give away nearly all his wealth back to society and shut down the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the next two decades.
He announced in a post on his blog (Gates Notes) on Thursday, May 8, 2025, that he plans to distribute virtually all of his wealth, which he estimated at $200 billion, before calling time on the foundation on December 31, 2045.
Gates predicts that people will have a lot to say about him when he passes, but he is determined not to be seen as an individual who died rich.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.
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“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,” he wrote.
The Microsoft co-founder further stated that he planned to give away 99% of his wealth by 2045, with the remaining 1% (about $1.6 billion) reserved for him and his family.
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Bill and Melinda's foundation
The billionaire and his former wife, Melinda French, started the Gates Foundation in 2000, and so far, it has spent over $100bn on global health, education, poverty alleviation, vaccine development, medical research, and emergency aid.
“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,” he stated.
“I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished in our first 25 years,” Gates stated while highlighting the foundation’s achievements.
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“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,” he added.