Bill Gates at the University of Nairobi when he visited Kenya in November, 2022. He is determined he will not die a rich man.
Philanthropist Bill Gates has announced he will give out nearly all his wealth through the Gates Foundation in the next 20 years, and that the Foundation will permanently close in 2045.
Gates said in a post that the foundation will spend $200 billion in the
remaining 20 years. This is double the $100 billion that the foundation has
given out since it was founded in the year 2000.
Gates, who will be 70 years old in October, said he is determined that he will not die a rich man.
“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. There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people,” he said in a note on his website.
The historic funding announcement of $200 billion represents the largest
philanthropic commitment in modern history.
The original charter of the Foundation had said the foundation would continue to exist 20 years past the death of Gates.
But Bill said there are too many urgent problems to solve. “That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned,” he wrote. “I will give away virtually all my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world. And on December 31, 2045, the foundation will close its doors permanently.”
The accelerated timeline was affirmed by the foundation’s governing board.
While the foundation’s strategies are not changing, over the next two decades, the foundation will work together with its partners to make as much progress as possible towards three primary goals.
These are: helping end preventable deaths of moms and babies; ensuring the next generation grows up without having to suffer from deadly infectious diseases; and lifting millions of people out of poverty, putting them on a path to prosperity.
“During the first 25 years of the Gates Foundation—powered in part by the generosity of Warren Buffett—we gave away more than $100 billion,” Gates wrote. “Over the next two decades, we will double our giving. The exact amount will depend on the markets and inflation, but I expect the foundation will spend more than $200 billion between now and 2045. This figure includes the balance of the endowment and my future contributions.”
He said the shift in the sunset date is driven by urgency and
opportunity. The foundation hopes to capitalise on the extraordinary global
progress in health and development between 2000 and 2025—a period when child
deaths were halved, deaths from deadly infectious diseases were significantly
reduced, and hundreds of millions of people rose out of poverty.
Bill Gates meets farmers in Ghana in a past visit to Africa.
Since 2000, the Gates Foundation contributed to saving 82 million lives through its support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Together with its partners, the foundation also helped develop more than 100 innovations, including vaccines, diagnostic tools, and treatments designed to meet the needs of people living in low- and middle-income countries. Taken together, these innovations—and the people who made them possible—helped change the trajectory of global health. Still, there are hundreds more innovations in the pipeline.
“The needs at this time are greater than any we’ve seen in the lifetime of the foundation, but the achievements of the past 25 years have shown that tremendous progress is still possible,” said Mark Suzman, CEO and board member of the Gates Foundation. “That’s why, in the next two decades, working in close collaboration with our partners, we’ll deploy these new innovations and apply 25 years of learnings and progress to making an even bigger difference."
This announcement comes amidst multiple years of stagnant or, in some cases, backsliding progress on global health metrics.
Governments around the world have announced tens of billions of dollars in cuts to aid funding that stand to have devastating consequences for the world’s poorest people.
At the same time, scientific breakthroughs, powerful innovations, and new tools—from vaccines to AI—are creating opportunities to save and improve lives faster than ever before.
“The truth is, there have never been more opportunities to help people live healthier, more prosperous lives. Advances in technology are happening faster than ever, especially with artificial intelligence on the rise,” Gates said. “Even with all the challenges that the world faces, I’m optimistic about our ability to make progress—because each breakthrough is yet another chance to make someone’s life better.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 2000 but in 2025
changed name to “Gates Foundation” to honor Bill Gates Sr.’s legacy and Melinda
French Gates’ contributions.
It had about 20 employees in the year 2000 but currently employs more than 2000 people.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates contributed $60.2 billion to the foundation since inception to 2024.
On the other side, Warren Buffett has contributed $43.3 billion to the foundation from 2006 to 2024.
The Foundation has paid out more than $100 billion since inception and had an endowment of $77.2 billion as of end of 2024.
It has offices in Seattle, Washington DC, New Delhi, Beijing, London, Abuja, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Berlin, Dakar, and Nairobi.
