Gates Speeds Up Giving Strategy, Targets 2045 Deadline
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday said he will give away almost all of his fortune about $200 billion by 2045 through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which will shut down the same year. The action dramatically speeds up the foundation’s timeline, initially set to last beyond the founders’ lifetimes. Gates stated that the money would be used to eradicate diseases like polio and malaria, lower child and maternal mortality, and fight global poverty.
Musk Criticized Over Foreign Aid Reductions
In a forceful denunciation, Gates castigated Elon Musk, the globe’s wealthiest man, for presiding over draconian cuts in the US foreign assistance budget. Gates blamed Musk for “killing the world’s poorest children” by having proposed cutting approximately 80% of USAID’s $44 billion global programs using his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Gates warned that without adequate assistance, death rates worldwide may start to climb once more, ending decades of improvements.
Foundation Budget to Double, But Government Support Still Indispensable
The Gates Foundation is going to double its yearly expenditures to $9 billion by 2026 and about $10 billion every year thereafter. Yet Gates asserted that philanthropy can never entirely substitute government funds, especially those of the United States, which he noted remain essential for wiping out such diseases as polio.
Legacy of Giving and Continued Advocacy
Marking the 25th anniversary of the foundation, Gates looked back on its $100 billion achieved thus far and reiterated his focus on global health and equity. The two billionaires now find themselves in disagreement after aligning with Musk on philanthropy in the past. “There are too many pressing issues for me to hold on to resources,” Gates said, continuing, “The world does have values. That’s what my parents taught me.”
