The Gates Foundation has revealed plans to allocate over $200 billion in the next 20 years, intensifying its global health initiatives before officially closing in 2045, the organization announced on Thursday.
This updated timeline represents a modification to the foundation’s original charter, which had outlined that it would close 20 years after Bill Gates’s passing.
According to the foundation, this decision is motivated by both “urgency and opportunity,” especially as advancements in artificial intelligence increase potential for improving lives, while government contributions to aid are in decline.
“During the first 25 years of the Gates Foundation — powered in part by the generosity of Warren Buffett — we gave away more than $100 billion,” Gates, 69, stated in a blog post.
“Over the next two decades, we will double our giving,” Gates added.
In the blog, Gates included a graph predicting a 99% decline in his personal fortune over the next 20 years. He is presently ranked 13th on Forbes’s real-time billionaire list with a net worth of $112.6 billion.
“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,” Gates emphasized.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
Founded in 2000, the Gates Foundation has been instrumental in leading global health campaigns, such as efforts to eliminate polio and the development of a rotavirus vaccine that has cut child deaths from diarrhea by 75%.
“By accelerating our giving, my hope is we can put the world on a path to ending preventable deaths of moms and babies and lifting millions of people out of poverty,” Gates said.
In addition to the foundation’s work, Gates said he will continue to support projects focused on expanding affordable energy access and pursuing innovative Alzheimer’s research.
What you should know
Bill Gates intends to distribute nearly all his wealth through the foundation by 2045, emphasizing immediate action to address global health and poverty while also embracing emerging technologies like AI for humanitarian impact.
ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM VERILY NEWS
