By Billionaire businessman, Bill Gates has revealed that he plans to give all of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, run by him and his ex-wife Melinda.
The Microsoft co-founder made this known in a Twitter thread on Wednesday, announcing a donation of $20 billion to the foundation’s endowment this month to increase spending to $9 billion per year by 2026.
Gates said he made the donation to help meet urgent global needs such as setbacks caused by the pandemic, the war on Ukraine, and among others.
“As I look to the future, I plan to give virtually all of my wealth to the foundation. I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people,” he wrote.
“I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives. And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”
He also thanked billionaire investor Warren Buffet for his longtime contribution to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, saying his “incredible generosity is a huge reason why the foundation has been able to be so ambitious.”
Last month, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO gave a $3.1 billion grant to the 22-year-old organization’s endowment.
In 2010, Buffett, Gates, and Melinda French Gates founded an initiative called The Giving Pledge as a “movement of philanthropists who commit to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.”
