Bill Gates Announces Plan to Donate Entire Wealth; Ex-Wife Melinda Responds

Bill Gates, one of the world's richest individuals, has announced a major philanthropic decision concerning the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-founded. He is planning to spend the foundation’s substantial endowment—estimated at around $200 billion (over ₹16 lakh crore)—entirely on public health and poverty eradication initiatives by the year 2045. Following this, he intends to permanently shut down the foundation.

In response, Melinda Gates, Bill Gates’ former wife, described this as an “extraordinary decision” and expressed her full support for the initiative.

In an interview with Fortune magazine, Melinda Gates elaborated on the plan, stating that over the next two decades, the foundation aims to double its annual spending, channeling funds into eliminating deadly diseases, reducing maternal and child mortality, and tackling global poverty. “The core intent of the foundation is that these immense resources should return to society,” she said.

Melinda Gates, who stepped away from the foundation last year and launched her own venture, Pivotal Ventures, which focuses on women’s empowerment, stated that while the idea of spending down the foundation’s funds was a joint decision, the final call on the timeline rests with Bill Gates. She emphasized that billionaires have a moral responsibility to give back part of their accumulated wealth to society.

“Even after the foundation officially winds down, the fact that our efforts have helped improve lives will be our true satisfaction,” she said.