Bill Gates promises his remaining wealth is the Gates Foundation, which will end in 20 years

SEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates said he will donate 99% of the remaining technological wealth to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previous plans. Today, this is estimated to be worth $100.7 billion.

The commitment is one of the biggest charitable gifts ever – surpassing the historical contributions of industrialists such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, and has been adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett, who promises to donate his wealth (currently estimated at $160 billion by Forbes) may be even bigger, depending on stock market volatility.

Gates’ contributions will be made over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years.

“There are a lot of reasons that can be incorporated into these, and it’s really exciting,” Gates said in an interview with the Associated Press.

His announcement on Thursday demonstrates that there is a commitment to sustained support for these causes, especially global health and education in the United States, and ultimately ending the foundation’s immense influence on the global scale. Gates said spending his own wealth will help save and improve many lives, which will have a positive ripple effect far beyond the foundation’s closure. This also makes his intentions more likely to be respected.

“I think 20 years is the right balance for us to make as much progress as we can and give people a lot of notifications, and now that money is going to go away,” Gates said.

In your own alliance

The Gates Foundation has long been an unparalleled foundation – attracting supporters and critics, but also attracting many unfounded conspiracy theories.

In addition to its $100 billion since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and fostered long-term partnerships with states and companies.

So far, about 41% of the foundation’s funding comes from Warren Buffett, and the rest comes from the wealth gates made by Microsoft.

Founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation played an important role in formulating global health policies and laid a special niche market by working with companies to reduce the cost of medical treatments that can be afforded by low- and middle-income countries.

“The foundation work is much more impactful than I expected,” Gates said.

The foundation’s impact on global health – from the World Health Organization to the research agenda – is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have a big impact on how the world improves people’s health and responds to crises.

Gates said, like any private citizen, he could choose how to spend money and decided to do everything possible to reduce child deaths.

“Is that a bad thing? Isn’t that a big reason? People can criticize it.” But the foundation will stick to its global health efforts.

The Associated Press received financial support from the Gates Foundation for African news coverage, as well as the workforce of the Melinda French Gates organization Pivotal Ventures and the governor’s women’s news coverage.

The main ambitions for the remaining 20 years

According to the United Nations, the foundation’s most popular indicator is that between 2000 and 2020, preventable child deaths fell by almost half. Mark Suzman, the foundation’s CEO, said cautiously that they are not honored for the achievement. But he thinks they play a “catalytic” – for example, they helped create the vaccine when they were providing it to children through Gavi’s vaccine alliance.

The foundation still has many goals – eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases such as malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other diseases.

Gates hopes that by solving these problems, wealthy donors will be free to solve other problems in the future.

The Gates Foundation plans to end twenty years after Gates’ death, meaning today’s announcement greatly enhances that timeline. Gates plans to remain engaged, although he admitted at the age of 69 that he may not have a say.

For the remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of about $9 billion a year, an annual increase that has been nearly annually since Buffett first started donating in 2006.

Suzman expects the foundation to focus on top priorities.

“Having time frames and resources is just a bigger burden on us, ‘Are you actually putting the resources, your thumb down, and will be the biggest, most successful bet instead of too thin choices, not too thin?” Suzman said.

Gates is the only remaining founder

25 years before the foundation was established, there were major changes.

In 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the trustee of the foundation. They recruited a new board to help manage the foundation, and in 2024, the French Gate continues to work in their own organization.

French Door said she decided to resign in April at the rollback of women’s rights at Elle Impact of Impact event in New York in response to the rollback of U.S. rights.

“I trust current CEO Mark Suzman,” she said. “We have a board ready and I know their values.”

Even if the foundation’s governance is stable, the road ahead will be difficult. Lasting conflict between Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil, and cuts in foreign aid predict fewer resources for global health and development.

“The biggest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health,” Gates said. “Will it continue to decline as it has been in the past few years, or can we return it to where it should be?”

Even in the face of these obstacles, gates and foundations, as they often do, are optimistic about the innovations they fund, or the ways they have helped reduce the cost of care.

“If we can’t bring them to everyone who needs them, it’s incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic things,” Gates said. “So it will require renewing the commitment of those who are kind to help those who need them the most.”

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