The Gates Foundation received a death sentence of sorts today.
Microsoft co-founder turned billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said today that his foundation will have just 20 years to exhaust its coffers and wind down operations. He has pledged to donate 99% of his fortune, which today is worth an estimated $107 billion, to the foundation. Over the next 20 years of donations, he expects the foundation to spend more than $200 billion.
“This decision comes at a moment of reflection for me,” Gates wrote on his website, Gates Notes. “In addition to celebrating the foundation’s 25th anniversary, this year also marks several other milestones: It would have been the year my dad, who helped me start the foundation, turned 100; Microsoft is turning 50; and I turn 70 in October.”
The total of Gates’s donation is expected to be the second-largest philanthropic gift in U.S. history, adjusted for inflation. Warren Buffett, whose net wealth is estimated at $160 billion, is anticipated to be the largest.
Previously, the Gates Foundation was directed to close 20 years after Gates’s death. The 69-year-old Microsoft founder appears to be in good health, so this marks a significant shift in the foundation’s timeline.
The 25-year-old Gates Foundation has already spent more than $100 billion on a range of causes centered mostly around health, education, global development, and gender equality.
Many of the Gates Foundation’s beneficiaries have been people in low-income countries with endemic and frequently deadly diseases like malaria.
Techcrunch event
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last.
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last.
Berkeley, CA
|
June 5
BOOK NOW
The news arrives as the Trump administration has moved to slash foreign aid. USAID, one of the agencies hit by Trump’s cuts, managed more than $35 billion of congressional appropriations annually. The Gates Foundation said it expects to spend around $9 billion per year through 2045.
Topics
Bill Gates, Fundraising, Gates Foundation, Health, philanthropy, public health
Tim De Chant
Senior Reporter, Climate
Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor. De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College.
View Bio
May 13, 2025
London, England
Get inside access to Europe’s top investment minds — with leaders from Monzo, Accel, Paladin Group, and more — plus top-tier networking at StrictlyVC London.
REGISTER NOW
Most Popular
Hugging Face releases a free Operator-like agentic AI tool
Kyle Wiggers
Meet Posha, a countertop robot that cooks your meals for you
Rebecca Szkutak
Musk clashes with neighbors in exclusive Austin suburb
Connie Loizos
Is Duolingo the face of an AI jobs crisis?
Anthony Ha
How Riot Games is fighting the war against video game hackers
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
Google launches AI tools for practicing languages through personalized lessons
Aisha Malik
Hugging Face releases a 3D-printed robotic arm starting at $100
Kyle Wiggers
