Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, has announced plans to donate nearly all of his $200 billion fortune, leaving only one per cent to himself and his family, as he prepares to wind down the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In a personal blog post published on Gates Notes on Thursday, Gates revealed that the globally renowned charitable organisation will cease operations 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,” Gates wrote.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people,” he added.
According to him, the decision marks a shift from previous plans, accelerating the pace of giving to maximize global impact over the next two decades.
“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,” Bill Gates explained.
A chart shared on his blog shows that 99 per cent of his wealth is to be disbursed by 2045, leaving the remaining one per cent—approximately $1.6 billion—for personal and family use.
Founded in 2000 with his former wife, Melinda French Gates, the foundation has spent over $100 billion in sectors including global health, education, and poverty alleviation, funding vital initiatives like vaccine development, medical research, and emergency relief programs.
Reflecting on the change in timeline, Gates wrote, “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 added.
According to Daily Mail, the remaining one per cent of Gates’ wealth might eventually go to his three children: Phoebe, Rory, and Jennifer.
Bill Gates expressed pride in the foundation’s accomplishments over the past 25 years.
“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.”
Despite widespread praise for the foundation’s efforts, some critics have raised concerns about Gates’ influence in global health decisions. But in a conversation with the Associated Press, he defended his philanthropic choices.
“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 said.
