Bill Gates, the fifth wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $168 billion, has called for nothing short of an audacious revolution. … and he would increase his own charitable giving — to the tune of $200 billion over the next 20 years! Like most nonprofits and universities, we are reeling from the impacts of funding cuts from federal appropriations. This trend should worry anyone who cares about the sustainability of global aid efforts.
Read more about Gates’ ambitious plan in a deep dive interview with the New York Times. He emphasized that the $200 billion pledge is conditional on greatly increasing his philanthropic foundation’s endowment by moving a big chunk of money into investments. Unlike most other billionaires, Gates has gone so far as to raise his charitable giving in public. His goal is to fill the void created by reductions in government spending for overseas development assistance and other important services.
The United States, United Kingdom, France, and almost all other western countries are hacking away at their aid budgets. Instead, they are slashing planned infrastructure investments by tens of billions of dollars. No philanthropic organization, including the Gates Foundation at its current scale, will ever be able to fill all of this growing funding gap. This has been an incredibly difficult time. Gates stated.
With all these cuts, Gates admitted that he’s not sure if his fellow billionaire, Elon Musk, will be able to make good on his philanthropic promises. He pointed to Musk’s involvement in aid reductions as a pressing issue, stating, “It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people.”
In 2010, Gates co-founded the Giving Pledge – with his then-wife Melinda and Warren Buffett. They gave cover to a new generation of billionaires who followed their example in promising to give away most of their fortunes in their lifetimes or through their wills. His personal giving during his lifetime is projected to be $620 million by 2023.
Motivated by global challenges such as children’s health and climate change, Gates has often cited the late industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s philosophy against wealth hoarding as an inspiration for his philanthropic efforts. As he once plainspokenly observed, he is hell bent that his legacy not be reduced down to the zeros on his balance sheet.
When I pass away one day, folks are going to have a lot to say about me. I’m dead set against “he died rich” being such a thing. he remarked.
Aside from his emphasis on the need for more private charitable giving, Gates underscored troubling projections that speak to the devastating effects of aid cuts. An agency report released in early March warned that these cuts would be detrimental. They forecast that one million more children will succumb to untreated severe acute malnutrition, and potentially an additional 166,000 people will die from malaria.
The world’s richest man, killing the world’s poorest kids, is not a pretty picture. Gates claimed, highlighting the need to protect strong international aid programs at times when it is most needed.
Gates’ foundation has disbursed lifesaving assistance globally, providing healthcare, clean water, and food as part of a broader effort that saw $42.5 billion allocated by federal agencies in 2023 alone. Gates is setting up his foundation to be able to close by the end of 2045 once he has donated almost all of his wealth. He has continued to promote increasing the international community’s assistance to the world’s most vulnerable.