BILL GATES TO SHUT FOUNDATION IN 2045 AFTER DONATING 99% OF FORTUNE

BILL GATES TO SHUT FOUNDATION IN 2045 AFTER DONATING 99% of FORTUNE

Bill Gates announced on Thursday that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will officially shut down by the end of 2045—decades earlier than originally planned—as he reiterated his pledge to donate nearly all of his remaining fortune to the foundation’s work.

Established in 2000, the Gates Foundation will “sunset its operations” on December 31, 2045, and spend a staggering $200 billion over the next 20 years, according to an announcement by the organisation. Gates, whose net worth is currently estimated by Forbes at nearly $113 billion, confirmed he would “give away virtually all my wealth” through the foundation until its closure. He added that his net worth would “drop 99%.”

Originally, the foundation was designed to remain active for at least 20 years after the deaths of both Gates and his former wife, Melinda French Gates. However, Gates revealed that he had “begun to rethink that approach” several years ago, concluding that the foundation’s goals could be met “on a shorter timeline” if its resources and efforts were “double downed.”

Looking ahead to the next two decades, Gates outlined a bold vision to tackle some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian issues. He said the foundation would prioritise preventing the deaths of newborns, children, and mothers from avoidable causes, while also aiming to alleviate poverty and eliminate diseases such as malaria, polio, and measles.

Bill Gates to Shut Foundation in 2045 After Donating 99% of Fortune
The decision to fast-track the foundation’s timeline comes at a time when its financial commitments are already reaching new heights. Earlier this year, the foundation announced what it called its largest-ever annual budget, projecting $9 billion in spending by 2026.

In a personal message explaining his decision, Gates wrote: “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,” adding, “There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”

Over its first 25 years, the foundation has donated a total of $100 billion, Gates said, positioning it as one of the largest philanthropic entities in history.

Since its inception, the Gates Foundation has focused heavily on global public health, funding major initiatives such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and vaccine alliances like Gavi and the Vaccine Alliance. In 2006, billionaire Warren Buffett joined the foundation as a trustee and made significant contributions—totaling about $36 billion—to support its mission.

In recent years, however, the organisation has undergone a series of leadership changes. Melinda French Gates stepped down from the foundation in 2024 to launch her own philanthropic initiative, while Buffett resigned from his trustee role in 2022, announcing plans to allocate his remaining fortune to a charitable trust.

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, has echoed the urgency behind Gates’ latest move. Last year, he appealed to the world’s wealthiest individuals to step up their giving, citing a surge in global poverty following the COVID-19 pandemic. Suzman also noted in an open letter earlier this year that foreign aid had “fallen off a cliff,” warning that global progress toward poverty reduction and healthcare access risked backsliding without stronger financial commitments.

As the foundation now accelerates both its timeline and financial investment, Gates appears determined to make every remaining dollar count. His decision to sunset the foundation in 2045 underscores a shift in thinking among high-net-worth philanthropists—toward focused, time-bound giving intended to produce measurable results within a lifetime.

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