On May 8, 2025, Bill Gates announced a bold philanthropic commitment to donate nearly his entire $200 billion fortune by the year 2045. The funds will be channeled through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is now scheduled to close by the end of that year. Gates stated that the mission is to tackle global issues such as poverty, disease, and child mortality.
As part of the announcement, Gates criticized Elon Musk for cutting U.S. foreign aid through USAID. Gates argued that these reductions are endangering vulnerable populations, particularly children in developing nations, by limiting access to essential food and medical supplies. He warned that such actions could undo decades of progress in global health.
Although the Gates Foundation plans to increase its annual spending to $10 billion, Gates emphasized that philanthropy cannot replace government aid. He called on other billionaires to use their wealth to address the world’s most urgent problems, underlining his belief that private fortunes should be used for the greater good.
Gates also expressed concern that aid cuts could lead to rising death rates from diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, especially among women and children. He urged governments to recommit to foreign assistance, calling it essential to global stability and progress.
This pledge marks one of the largest philanthropic undertakings in modern history and reaffirms Gates’s position as one of the world’s most active and influential philanthropists.
