Bill Gates Announces Plan to Donate Entire Fortune by 2045
Gates Foundation to Cease Operations After Reaching Donation Goal
Bill Gates, the 70-year-old co-founder of Microsoft (MS), has set 2045 as the deadline for donating the majority of his wealth to society. Previously, he had vaguely stated the timeline as "20 years after my death," but he has now moved it up to "20 years from now." On May 8, the Gates Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, announced that it will donate all of Gates's fortune by 2045 to improve public health in developing countries and other causes.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is giving a speech at the full meeting of the National Assembly Budget Committee in 2022. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group
Gates stated, "There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold on to resources that could be used to help people." He emphasized, "I have decided to return my money to society much faster than I originally planned." Gates pledged, "Over the next 20 years, I will donate virtually all of my wealth through the Gates Foundation to save and improve lives around the world." He also explained that the Gates Foundation "will permanently close on December 31, 2045." The foundation, which Gates established with his former wife Melinda in 2000, was originally planned to operate for 20 years after Gates's death before ending its activities.
Previously, the Gates Foundation has donated more than $100 billion (about 140 trillion won) over the past 25 years. Gates stated, "We will double our donations over the next 20 years," and added, "We expect the foundation to spend more than $200 billion (about 280 trillion won) from now until 2045." Explaining the reasons behind this decision, Gates added, "When I die, people will say many things about me, but I am determined to make sure that no one says, 'He died rich.'" Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation has identified three main areas of focus for the next 20 years: reducing maternal and child mortality, combating deadly infectious diseases such as polio and malaria, and addressing poverty.
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