Bill Gates Announces Plan to Give Away Fortune, Close Gates Foundation by 2045

Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates announced plans to donate nearly all of his personal wealth and shut down the Gates Foundation within the next 20 years.

“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, 69, wrote in a blog post. “There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”

A Microsoft building | Source: Pexels

The Microsoft co-founder, whose net worth is estimated at $168 billion, set a definitive timeline for winding down the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The organization, launched in 2000, is scheduled to close by December 31, 2045.

To date, the foundation has distributed over $100 billion globally, with initiatives focused on disease eradication, poverty reduction, education, climate change, and healthcare access. Gates anticipates doubling that contribution, projecting an additional $200 billion in disbursements by 2045, contingent on economic conditions. The foundation’s annual budget is set to rise from $6 billion to $9 billion.

Despite his optimism, Gates cautioned that philanthropic efforts cannot replace government funding. “No philanthropic organization — even one the size of the Gates Foundation — can make up the gulf in funding that’s emerging right now,” he wrote, citing widespread cuts to global aid budgets.

Dollar bills in a briefcase | Source: Pexels

Influenced by his parents, Warren Buffett, and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, Gates emphasized a moral responsibility to give back. “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced,” he quoted from Carnegie’s 1889 essay "The Gospel of Wealth."

Gates co-founded the Giving Pledge in 2010, alongside Buffett and Melinda French Gates, encouraging billionaires to commit the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.