Bill Gates plans to close his foundation, give away nearly all of his fortune over 20 years: I don’t want people to say, ‘He died 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,” wrote Gates, 69. “There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
The Microsoft co-founder, whose net worth Bloomberg currently estimates at $168 billion, has pledged for years to give away most of his wealth to his philanthropic foundation. His eventual goal is to drop “off of the list of the world’s richest people,” he wrote in a social media post in July 2022.
Now, Gates has set a specific timeline for disbursing his fortune: The Gates Foundation is set to close its doors on December 31, 2045. Since the Foundation’s launch in 2000, it has contributed more than $100 billion to global causes — particularly working to eradicate diseases and poverty, address climate change and expand access to healthcare and education.
Gates estimates the Foundation will be able to double that total, and hand out another $200 billion between now and 2045, depending on factors such as inflation and market performance, he wrote. He plans to increase its annual budget from $6 billion to $9 billion.
For more information see Tom Huddleston Jr. “Bill Gates plans to close his foundation, give away nearly all of his fortune over 20 years: I don’t want people to say, ‘He died rich’,” CNBC, May 8, 2025.
Special thanks to David S. Luber (Florida Probate Attorney) for bringing this article to my attention.