Bill Gates says he will sunset his foundation in the next 20 years. That means a quickened plan to give away what could total $60 billion. He has that money, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which lists his net worth as $168 billion. That is up by $10 billion this year. Incidentally, the man who replaced him as chief executive officer at Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction), Steve Ballmer, is number seven on the list at $152 billion. Ballmer hung onto most of his Microsoft stock, even after being pressured to leave in 2014.
Gates was CEO of Microsoft from 1975 to 2000. He left primarily to pursue his philanthropic interests. He and his ex-wife started their foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000. As of 2023, the foundation had given away $78 billion, primarily to environmental causes and gender inequality. The size of the foundation’s assets rose. It broke apart when his wife left him.
Unlike with many of the richest people in the world, Gates’s wealth is spread across a wide number of investments. His 1.3% ownership of Microsoft is worth about $60 billion.
Gates has followed the example of his close friend Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B). Gates’s diversification runs across a large number of public companies, including Buffett’s. He also owns pieces of Walmart and FedEx.
Gates also has tens of billions of dollars in Cascade Investment, which holds his stake in private companies. These range from Ritz Carlton to nuclear energy startup TerraPower.
Gates will not top any billionaire lists again. Several people are too far ahead of him. That includes Elon Musk, whose net worth is nearly $450 billion.
I Don’t Agree With Bill Gates on Everything, but He Nails These Three Points About Wealth
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