Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his ex-wife and philanthropist Melinda French Gates are staying true to their pledge of giving away their fortune. The former spouses announced earlier this week that they would donate $20 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which they co-founded in the early 2000s.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is considered one of the largest charitable organizations in the world. Among other goals, the foundation works on enhancing healthcare and reducing extreme poverty across the world while also working on making education easily accessible.
“I hope by giving more, we can mitigate some of the suffering people are facing right now and help fulfill the foundation’s vision to give every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life,” said Gates after the news broke out.
Following the recent donation by Gates and French Gates, alongside a $3.1 billion annual pledge by Warren Buffet, the foundation’s endowment jumped to $70 billion, according to Fortune. This represents a significant jump compared to $49.9 billion in 2020.
Taking the discussion on Twitter, Gates revealed that he intends to give away all of his wealth to the foundation and will eventually drop out of the list of the world’s richest people. The most recent list compiled by Forbes magazine had Gates at no. 4 with an estimated wealth of $129 billion.