The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the world’s largest and most impactful philanthropies. Even after the divorce of the couple in May 2021, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates agreed to continue to co-chair the foundation together for a two-year trial period. Both of them have also publicized their intentions to give over the majority of their wealth to the philanthropy.
On Wednesday, Bill Gates announced in a blog post that he is transferring $20 billion to the endowment of the foundation. He explained that the foundation will increase its spending from $6 billion per year prior to the pandemic to $9 billion by the end of 2026. The movement of funds and extra expenditure is due to increased needs in many areas, despite the worst of COVID being over. The foundation supports a wide range of causes, including global health, education, climate change, gender quality, and more.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Bill Gates currently ranks as the world’s fourth-richest person, with a net worth of about $114 billion. In his blog post, he wrote: “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for improving lives.” He asserted that, with time, he will move down on the list of the world’s richest people until he is eventually off the list altogether.
The dedication of Bill Gates, and of the foundation he and his ex-wife started over 20 years ago, is encouraging and important in current times. As Gates concluded in his blog post, “I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”