(NewsNation) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been one of the world’s richest people for decades but has remained committed to getting rid of his wealth.
Bill Gates is currently worth $117 billion, making him the 13th richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
Bill Gates: the world’s first centibillionaire
Gates co-founded Microsoft alongside his friend Paul Allen in 1975. Through business dealings with IBM, the company became a major player in personal computing, according to Moneyweek.
He became the world’s youngest billionaire in 1987 and continued to grow his wealth in the 1990s and early 2000s, where he regularly topped the world’s richest people’s list. Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999.
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While the vast majority of his wealth is through his stake in Microsoft, Gates has committed to giving away most of his wealth through the Gates Foundation, which holds investments in other businesses.
The Gates Foundation
Founded in 2000 by Bill and Melinda French Gates, the charitable foundation holds $77.2 billion as of Dec. 2024.
The Gates Foundation holds investments in multiple companies, including Microsoft, where it owns 29% of the software giant.
Gates owns less than 1% of Microsoft after he donated $20 billion to the foundation in 2022, Forbes reports.
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In 2000, Gates provided the foundation with $5 billion, and most recently donated $20 billion to it in 2022, Forbes reports. In total, Bill and Melinda Gates, who divorced in 2021, have donated $60 billion to the foundation, according to the foundation.
The Foundation also holds a 19% stake in Berkshire Hathaway, which has a current market cap of $1 trillion, as well as investments in the waste disposal firm Republic Services and tractor maker Deere & Co., according to Forbes and Nasdaq.
