Bill Gates pledges to donate 99pc of fortune, accuses Elon Musk of harming world's poorestTopic:Charities1h ago1 hours agoFri 9 May 2025 at 7:28amLoading...In short: Bill Gates has pledged to give away 99 per cent of his remaining fortune to his charitable foundation over the next 20 years. The billionaire lashed out at Elon Musk, accusing him of "killing the world's poorest children" through huge cuts to the US foreign aid budget.What's next? The Gates foundation is set to spend about $US200 billion by 2045, with the final figure dependent on markets and inflation.abc.net.au/news/bill-gates-plans-to-give-away-99-per-cent-of-his-money/105275318Link copiedShareShare articleBill Gates has pledged to give away 99 per cent of his remaining fortune to his charitable foundation over the next 20 years.The 69-year-old billionaire co-founder of Microsoft also lashed out at Elon Musk, accusing the world's richest man of "killing the world's poorest children" through huge cuts to the US foreign aid budget.Mr Gates said he was speeding up his plans to donate $US200 billion ($312 billion) to the Gates Foundation — a nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world — and would close the foundation on December 31, 2045, years earlier than previously planned.The American business man said he believed the money would help achieve several of his goals, such as eradicating diseases like polio and malaria, ending preventable deaths among women and children, and reducing global poverty.Bill Gates in Chad as part of his philanthropic work with the Gates Foundation. (Supplied: Gates Foundation)'Killing the world's poorest children'His announcement follows moves by governments, including the Trump administration, to slash international aid budgets used to prevent deadly disease and famine.The US cuts have been overseen by Mr Musk, who has publicly bragged about feeding the US Agency for International Development (USAID) "into the wood chipper," and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).About 80 per cent of USAID programs are set to be cut; the agency spent $US44 billion worldwide in fiscal 2023."The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one," Mr Gates told the Financial Times.Elon Musk (left) has been grilled by Bill Gates (right) over his involvement in USAID cuts. (Reuters: Carlos Barria / AP: Mark Schiefelbein)The philanthropist warned of a stark reversal to decades of progress in reducing mortality over the next four to six years due to the funding cuts by governments worldwide."The number of deaths will start going up for the first time … it's going to be millions more deaths because of the resources," Mr Gates told Reuters.Mr Gates has warned the White House that his foundation and other philanthropies cannot fill the gaps left by governments."I think governments will come back to caring about children surviving" over the next 20-year period though, Mr Gates said on Thursday.Protesters hit the streets following the USAID funding cuts by the Trump administration earlier this year. (Reuters: Kent Nishimura)Gates and Musk ongoing feudMr Gates and Mr Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, once agreed over the role of the wealthy in giving away money to help others, but have since clashed several times.Asked if he had appealed to Mr Musk's recently to change course, Mr Gates said it was now up to Congress to decide on the future for USAID spending."Gates is a huge liar," Mr Musk said in reply to a tweet on his X social media platform that featured an interview with Mr Gates warning about USAID cuts.Mr Musk's spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.Here's what happened when Musk said he was 'moving on' Photo shows A close-up of Elon Musk smiling at an event.Elon Musk posted a cryptic tweet online, fuelling further speculation about his plans to buy Twitter. Here's what we know about the offer and what his mysterious post was really about.Mr Gates said that despite his foundation's deep pockets, progress would not be possible without government support."There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people," Mr Gates wrote in a post on his website."It's unclear whether the world's richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people."He praised the response to aid cuts in Africa, where some governments have reallocated budgets, but said that, as an example, polio would not be eradicated without US funding.Mr Gates made the announcement on the foundation's 25th anniversary.He set up the organisation with his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, and they were later joined by billionaire investor Warren Buffett.Melinda Gates and Bill Gates in India five years after they founded the Gates Foundation. (AP: Gazi Sarwar)'What my parents taught me'In total, the foundation has given away $US100 billion, helping to save millions of lives and backing initiatives like the vaccine group Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.Mr Gates, whose fortune is currently valued at about $US108 billion, expects the foundation to spend about $US200 billion by 2045, with the final figure dependent on markets and inflation.The foundation has faced criticism for its outsized power and influence in the field without the requisite accountability, including at the World Health Organization.Bill Gates says his parents taught him the world had values. (Reuters: Denis Balibouse)Mr Gates himself was also subject to conspiracy theories, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.He has spoken to Donald Trump several times in recent months, and twice since the president took office on January 20, he told Reuters on Thursday, on the importance of continued investment in global health."The world does have values. 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