After announcing that he will donate $ 20,000 million to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation this month, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, He reiterated that his intention is to donate all his assets and disappears from the list of the richest men in the world, in which he has been in the top ten for years.

Gates’s statement was accompanied by a series of comments he made on world events, in which he claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are two “fines” against the progress of the last two decades and he stressed that “the great crises of our time require all of us to do more”.

“Moving forward I plan to donate virtually all of my wealth” to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which will either drop me or eventually get out of the ranking of the richest men in the worldGates tweeted as part of a thread explaining the details of his recent donation.

“I have the obligation to return my resources to the company in ways that have the greatest impact to reduce suffering and improve life. And I hope that other people hold positions of great wealth and privilege also take a step forward right now“He added in another tweet.

Immediately, Gates added that he intends to increase his annual donation of up to 9,000 million by 2026, which is 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels. He explained that the increase is due to the effects of various “global fines”, such as the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and the climate crisis.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to eradicate diseases such as malaria, improve education and health infrastructure in many Third World countries.

It is estimated that, in 2020, it was the second largest charitable foundation in the world, with a budget of $ 49.8 billion and the support of investors such as billionaire Warren Buffett.

Bill Gates is an astronomical fortune

The first time Gates announced that his idea was to donate his entire fortune was in 2010. Since then, his wealth has grown by over 100%. According to Forbes magazine, the Microsoft founder has an estimated fortune 118 billion dollars.

The Microsoft founder appeared as the richest person in the world on the list prepared by Forbes for two periods: between 1995 and 2010, and again between 2013 and 2017.

It was in 2017 that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos snatched the top spot. This year, it was Tesla CEO Elon Musk who climbed to the top spot.

Source: AFP and ANSA