Bill Gates announced Wednesday on Twitter that he will be donating $20 billion from his personal wealth to his eponymously-named Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – the second largest charitable organization in the world.
“With the support and guidance of our board, we plan to increase our spending from nearly $6 billion per year today to $9 billion per year by 2026. To help make this spending increase possible, I am transferring $20 billion to the foundation’s endowment this month.”
Bill Gates
“With the support and guidance of our board, we plan to increase our spending from nearly $6 billion per year today to $9 billion per year by 2026. To help make this spending increase possible, I am transferring $20 billion to the foundation’s endowment this month,” Gates declared on a Twitter thread.
Melinda and I started the @gatesfoundation in 2000 because we believed that every person should have the chance to live a healthy and productive life. That vision remains the same, but the great crises of our time require all of us to do more. https://t.co/QBT6FHMqEj
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) July 13, 2022
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who with a $122.4 billion net worth is currently the fourth-wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires rankings, said he plans to donate the staggering $20 billion sum to his foundation, which is internationally renowned for its contributions to disease eradication, education and healthcare.
“I am very proud of the [Gates] foundation’s role in helping solve big problems like preventing pandemics, reducing childhood deaths, eradicating diseases, improving food security and climate adaptation, achieving gender equality, and improving educational outcomes,” Gates said.
The foundation, which was launched by the Microsoft founder and his then-wife Melinda, had an endowment of approximately $50 billion as of December 31, 2020.
“Global Setbacks”
The Gates Foundation, which among its health initiatives has provided hundreds of millions of dollars of funding towards initiatives regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, said that while the world continues to face existential crises – such as the one against climate change – he remains optimistic about the overall direction of the world.
“The pandemic is one of the biggest setbacks in history. The war on Ukraine is a gigantic tragedy for the entire world. The damage from climate change is already worse than most models predicted… But I’m still optimistic," he said. "These setbacks are happening in the context of two decades’ worth of historic progress and I believe it is possible to mitigate the damage and get back to the progress the world was making.”
The billionaire philanthropist concluded by re-affirming his commitment to donate nearly all of his wealth to his foundation, citing his “obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives.”