Bill Gates fortune is making headlines as the Microsoft co-founder pledged to give away virtually all of his $108 billion wealth by 2045, igniting a heated feud with Elon Musk over foreign aid cuts. This accelerated philanthropy timeline represents a dramatic shift in billionaire philanthropy approaches, with Gates planning to liquidate his Bill Gates fortune through the Gates Foundation wealth distribution program.
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Gates Vs. Musk: $108B Giveaway, Philanthropy Clash, And Future Plans
The Elon Musk vs Bill Gates tech billionaires feud intensified after Gates announced his plan to donate his entire fortune by 2045. Gates Foundation wealth will grow to distribute approximately $200 billion over two decades in what Gates called “the largest philanthropic commitment in modern history.”
Gates stated:
“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.”
By 2026, the Gates Foundation’s budget will increase to $9 billion, and by $10 billion a year thereafter. This Bill Gates fortune redistribution is targeted at destroying diseases such as polio and malaria and lowering the global poverty level.
Musk responded to Gates’ criticism on his X platform:
“Gates is a huge liar.”
This tech billionaires feud centers on Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has dismantled USAID. About 80% of USAID’s $44 billion budget faces cuts, prompting Gates’ accusation that Musk is “killing the world’s poorest children.”
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What’s Next?
Gates emphasized that his billionaire philanthropy cannot replace government funding:
“The United States, United Kingdom, France, and other countries around the world are cutting their aid budgets by tens of billions of dollars. And no philanthropic organization—even one the size of the Gates Foundation—can make up the gulf in funding that’s emerging right now.”
The Bill Gates fortune liquidation also reflects concerns about government withdrawal from international aid and potential global health consequences. In Walter Isaacson’s 2023 Musk biography, during a 2022 meeting between the tech billionaires, Musk reportedly told Gates:
“Most philanthropy was bullshit.”
This Elon Musk vs Bill Gates’ bickering exposes their very different philosophies on billionaire philanthropy. If both signed The Giving Pledge in 2010, the wealth of the Gates Foundation alone has distributed more than $100 billion since its inception in the early 2000s, while Musk has given away less than 1% of his fortune, according to Forbes estimates.
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