News hardware Bill Gates no longer wants to be one of the richest people in the world

Gates Foundation budget increases

In a blog post published on July 13, 2022, Bill Gates explains that the budget of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationthe charity established in the year 2000, has seen its annual expenses increase from 1 to 6 billion dollars in two decades. Faced with the pandemic, this envelope has increased by another 2 billion dollars. By 2026, the goal is to spend $9 billion a year.

The objective, with this increase in the Foundation’s investments, is to meet ever more philanthropic challengesamong which the founder of Microsoft cites the prevention of pandemics and diseases, education, gender equality, the fight against infant mortality and against global warming.

To contribute to this budget increase, Bill Gates announces $20 billion personal donation during the month of July. But it does not stop there: in the long term, the billionaire explains that he wants to dedicate almost all of his fortune to the budget of the Foundation that he co-created with his wife.

Bill Gates intends to give (almost) all of his fortune…

Bill Gates recalls first of all that half of the Foundation’s budget, until then, was financed by the personal donations of another great world fortune, in the person of warren buffett. The American businessman would have devoted a total of 35.7 billion dollars to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

After thanking his rich and generous friend, Bill Gates specifies that his plan is now to give “all his fortune at the Foundation, except what (he) spends on himself and his family” (without specifying, however, what sum this proportion represents).

“I will step back, and eventually be excluded from the list of the richest people in the world. My donation of this money is in no way a sacrifice. I feel privileged to be actively involved in these great challenges, I enjoy this work, and I feel it is my duty to return my heritage to society in a way that will significantly impact the improvement of our lives. »

…While owning lots of land in the United States

The blog post does not specify, however, whether this donation will also include returns on investment from land acquisitions made by Bill Gates in recent years.

Indeed, the Americans could not help noticing that the billionaire is now one of the biggest landowners in the countryafter buying up a dizzying number of farmlands.

Last year, he spoke about
Reddit to clarify the reasons for this massive investment in land. Decidedly animated by very noble intentions, he had explained: “It is not related to climate change. The agricultural sector is important. With more productive plantations, we can prevent deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate it already faces. »