Bill Gates Will Donate $20 Billion of His Wealth, Taking Him Out of 'World's Richest People List'

One of the world's richest people and the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has announced that he will be donating his fortune to a variety of causes, such as pandemic prevention, reduction of childhood deaths, and climate adaptation.

However, this donation will eventually remove him from the list of the richest people in the world.

Increasing The Foundation's Spending

According to its website, Bill Gates created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in 2000 to "combat disease, poverty, and unfairness around the world." Gates has been engaged in charitable endeavors through the foundation since leaving his position as CEO of Microsoft.

As one of the biggest philanthropies in the world, the foundation intends to raise its disbursements from roughly $6 billion to $9 billion every year by 2026, which is a 50 percent increase over pre-pandemic levels.

The foundation's main areas of concentration are charity giving that aims to address issues in education, health, gender equality, and many more.

Gates also assisted in funding the creation of vaccinations during the COVID-19 epidemic. The billionaire announced on Twitter that he will be funneling $20 billion to the foundation's endowment this month to continue his commitment to supporting the foundation's initiatives.

Gates is presently the fourth richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of over $114 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. The majority of his wealth is attributed to Microsoft shares but after his announcement, he acknowledged that he might go down or be crossed out of the list.

"I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for improving lives. I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too," Gates wrote in a blog post.

Gates' Twitter Thread

Gates explained in a lengthy Twitter thread that after decades of advancement, the world was currently experiencing significant setbacks due to the turmoil in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He stated that his foundation will work to provide people with the opportunity to live healthy and fruitful lives because he believed that the world may still get better in the future.

In the Twitter thread, Gates also reaffirmed that Warren Buffett, the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, had made over $35 billion in donations to the foundation and was on par with him in his show of support.

The Giving Pledge is a global project for billionaires that Gates, his wife Melinda, and Buffett started in 2010. More than 200 billionaires have joined the effort during the past ten years, which calls for billionaires to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes either during their lifetimes or after they pass away.

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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla