Bill Gates, the iconic co-founder of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, has maintained a spot on the list of the world’s wealthiest people for years. However, the 69-year-old doesn’t want to die rich.
“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,” said Gates in a letter posted this week. “There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
In the letter, Gates revealed that he wants the Gates Foundation to spend $200 billion over the next 20 years. He said that he was inspired by another wealthy philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, who penned an 1889 essay called “The Gospel of Wealth” that promoted the idea that wealthy people have a responsibility to give their resources back to society.
“In the essay’s most famous line, Carnegie argues that ‘the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.’ I have spent a lot of time thinking about that quote lately,” said Gates. He also said that the line inspired him to donate money at a faster clip than he initially planned – “virtually all” of his wealth, in fact. Then, he plans for the Gates Foundation to permanently close its doors on Dec. 31, 2045.
Gates started the foundation with his now ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, in 2000. At that time, they planned for the foundation to sunset several decades after their deaths. Since its inception, the foundation has given away more than $100 billion.
After the couple divorced in 2021, Melinda stayed on for a short time but then resigned last May. She has embarked on her own philanthropic projects and People magazine recently reported that she was seen holding hands with entrepreneur Philip Vaughn. Gates has started a public relationship with Paula Hurd, the widow of former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.
In an interview from earlier this year, Gates revealed that the breakup of his marriage was the “mistake” he most regrets. He also spoke of a change in the world following the COVID-19 pandemic, from a place with “everyone working together to solve stuff,” to a place where “it’s all about yourself.”
“With the input from our board, I now believe we can achieve the foundation’s goals on a shorter timeline, especially if we double down on key investments and provide more certainty to our partners,” said Gates in his letter this week. He said the new $200 billion figure includes the balance of the endowment and his future contributions.
Gates noted that the decision comes at a time when he is celebrating multiple milestones: what would have been his father’s 100th birthday (Henry Gates died at age 94), the 50th anniversary of Microsoft and his own 70th birthday. That means he is at an age when most people are retired, Gates admitted.
“While I respect anyone’s decision to spend their days playing pickleball, that life isn’t quite for me – at least not full time. I’m lucky to wake up every day energized to go to work. And I look forward to filling my days with strategy reviews, meetings with partners, and learning trips for as long as I can,” he said.
Along with that desire, Gates also said he wants to leave future generations better off and better prepared for the future.
“By accelerating our giving, my hope is we can put the world on a path to ending preventable deaths of moms and babies and lifting millions of people out of poverty,” he added. Profits from Gates’ investments into energy innovation and Alzheimer’s are also expected to be given to the foundation, said the multibillionaire.
According to a Thursday press release from the Gates Foundation, the accelerated timeline mentioned by Gates “was affirmed by the foundation’s governing board with a change to the foundation’s charter, which had said the organization would sunset 20 years after Gates’ death,” and that since “funding pledged exceeds the foundation’s current endowment,” that the balance will come from “Gates’ personal fortune.”
While the release noted that the Gates Foundation has already contributed to saving 82 million lives through its support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, it also said that there is an increased need for investment.
“This announcement comes amidst multiple years of stagnant or, in some cases, backsliding progress on global health metrics,” it said. “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.”
Key areas that are expected to benefit from the Gates Foundation’s accelerated timeline are: pathways to opportunity for U.S. students; digital public infrastructure that connects people to financial and social services and fosters inclusive economies and open, competitive markets; new uses of artificial intelligence and gender equality efforts.