I will give away almost all my wealth to people, says Bill Gates

Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, has vowed to give away almost all his wealth back to society and shut down the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 20 years.

Gates, in a post on his blog (Gates Notes) on Thursday, stated that he would only hold on to one percent of his wealth worth of $200billion.

He said people would say a lot of things about him when he passed on, but he was determined not to be seen as an individual who died rich.

“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.

“That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned. I will give away virtually all my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world. And on December 31, 2045, the foundation will close its doors permanently,” he said.

Gates further revealed that he planned to give away 99 per cent of his wealth by 2045, while the remaining one per cent, or about $1.6 billion, would be for him and his family.

Gates and his former wife, Melinda French, founded the foundation in 2000 and it had so far spent over $100 billion on global health, education, poverty alleviation, vaccine development, medical research, and emergency aid around the world.

“This is a change from our original plans. When Melinda and I started the Gates Foundation in 2000, we included a clause in the foundation’s very first charter: The organisation would sunset several decades after our deaths. A few years ago, I began to rethink that approach.

“More recently, 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,” he stated.

Highlighting the foundation’s achievements, Gates said, “I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished in our first 25 years.”

“We were central to the creation of Gavi and the Global Fund, both of which transformed the way the world procures and delivers lifesaving tools like vaccines and anti-retrovirals. Together, these two groups have saved more than 80 million lives so far.

“Along with Rotary International, we have been a key partner in reviving the effort to eradicate polio. We supported the creation of a new vaccine for rotavirus that has helped reduce the number of children who die from diarrhea each year by 75 percent. Every step of the way, we brought together other foundations, non-profits, governments, multilateral agencies, and the private sector as partners to solve big problems—as we will continue to do for the next twenty years,” he added.