Bill Gates says hes giving away virtually all of his nearly $200B fortune

Bill Gates announced plans Thursday to give away “virtually all” of his estimated $200 billion fortune.The Microsoft founder, 69, said he wants to distribute his money within the next 20 years before closing the Gates Foundation that he created with his former wife, Melinda, on December 31, 2045.Gates’ net worth will drop by 99% over the next two decades, he told CBS News.The decision to give away his fortune came after he saw firsthand the impact of his foundation’s work distributing vaccines for easily treatable illnesses that still kill many in the third world, such as diarrhea and pneumonia, he said.But it also came in the face of what he called a stalling of progress as the US and Europe cut back on foreign aid and reduce humanitarian funding in the face of conflict in Ukraine and Israel.He insisted that he won’t miss anything from his multi-billion-dollar fortune.“I hope I’m still alive when we finish the 20 years, but I will save a little bit to be able to buy hamburgers as much as I need,” he said.“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 wrote in a statement.“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”Gates and his former wife established their foundation in 2000, with plans to continue its philanthropic work for many decades after their deaths.The foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations, has reportedly already given away more than $100 billion since its founding.Thursday’s announcement was branded the “largest philanthropic commitment in modern history” by the Gates Foundation.More than half of the foundation’s money so far has come from the fortune Gates made from Microsoft, which he founded 50 years ago, while the remaining 41% came from Warren Buffett.But the foundation saw major upheaval when, in 2021, Melinda and Bill divorced, and Buffett re...