 |
Bill Gates announced Thursday that he will donate $200 billion through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation by 2045. The 69-year-old Microsoft co-founder said he is accelerating plans to give away nearly his entire fortune and will close the foundation on December 31, 2045—earlier than originally intended.
Gates said he hopes the funds will contribute to eradicating diseases such as polio and malaria, ending preventable deaths among women and children, and reducing global poverty.
His pledge comes amid significant cuts to international aid budgets by several governments, including under former President Donald Trump. The U.S. aid reductions have been overseen by the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“The image of the world’s richest man letting the world’s poorest children die is not something I can accept,” Gates told the Financial Times. In a separate interview with Reuters, he warned that progress in reducing mortality could be reversed within the next four to six years due to these funding cuts. “For the first time, the number of deaths will begin to rise... we’re talking about millions of additional deaths because the resources aren’t there,” he said.
However, Gates remains hopeful. “I believe that over the next 20 years, governments will return to prioritizing child survival,” he added.
Once aligned on the philanthropic responsibilities of the ultra-wealthy, Gates and Elon Musk—CEO of Tesla and SpaceX—have since had multiple public disagreements
“People will say many things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ won’t be one of them,” Gates wrote in a personal post on his website. “There are too many urgent problems in the world for me to hold on to wealth that could instead be helping others.”
He also questioned the long-term commitment of wealthy nations to the world’s poorest, pointing to recent aid cuts by major donors including the United States, Britain, and France.
Despite the foundation’s vast resources, Gates emphasized that lasting progress is not achievable without government collaboration. He acknowledged African nations for reallocating their own budgets in response to shrinking aid, but stressed that global goals like eradicating polio cannot be reached without U.S. involvement.
The announcement was made on the Gates Foundation’s 25th anniversary. Gates co-founded the organization in 2000 with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett later joined as a major contributor.
“I’ve come a long way from being a kid launching a software company with my middle school friend,” Gates reflected.