Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has given himself a 20-year timeline to “give away virtually all my wealth.”
The Gates Foundation says it has given away more than $100 billion during its first 25 years, and will double that over the next 20 years.
Gates said he made the decision after reading “a lot of books.”
“One of the best things I read was an 1889 essay by Andrew Carnegie called The Gospel of Wealth,” the chairman of the Gates Foundation wrote in a post on his website.
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“It makes the case that the wealthy have a responsibility to return their resources to society, a radical idea at the time that laid the groundwork for philanthropy as we know it today.”
The 69-year-old billionaire and philanthropist said he was speeding up plans to divest his fortune and close the Gates Foundation on Dec. 31, 2045.
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In an implicit rebuke to President Donald Trump’s slashing of aid from the world’s biggest donor, the United States, Gates’ statement said he wanted to help stop newborn babies, children and mothers dying of preventable causes, end diseases like polio, malaria and measles, and reduce poverty.
“It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people,” he added, noting cuts from major donors, including the U.K. and France.
Gates said that despite the foundation’s deep pockets, progress would not be possible without government support.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 433.35 | +0.04 | +0.01% |
“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.”
Gates made the announcement on the foundation’s 25th anniversary. He set up the organization with his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, and they were later joined by investor Warren Buffett.
“I have come a long way since I was just a kid starting a software company with my friend from middle school,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
