đź“…This fact may be outdated
The specific figure of $36,854,000,000 by April 2010 cannot be verified. Historical records show the Gates Foundation had disbursed over $26 billion in grants by 2010, not $36.8 billion. Gates' net worth in April 2010 was approximately $53 billion. As of 2024, Gates has donated $60.2 billion total to the foundation. The fact is outdated because it references a 2010 snapshot, and the specific dollar amount appears inflated.
As of April 2010, Bill Gates had donated $36,854,000,000 in his lifetime! That's more than half of his total net worth!
Bill Gates Has Donated Over $60 Billion to Charity
Bill Gates didn't just revolutionize personal computing—he's also rewriting the rules of charitable giving. Since co-founding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has donated over $60 billion of his personal wealth, making him one of the most generous philanthropists in history.
To put that in perspective: $60 billion is more than the GDP of many countries. It's enough to buy every human on Earth a fancy coffee with change left over.
The Giving Pledge: A Billionaire Pact
In 2010, Gates teamed up with Warren Buffett to launch The Giving Pledge, a campaign convincing billionaires to donate at least half their wealth to charity. Gates went further, committing to give away 95% of his fortune. True to his word, he's given away so much that his net worth has actually decreased compared to what it would've been—meaning he'd be significantly wealthier if he'd kept the money.
His former Microsoft colleague Steve Ballmer is now richer than Gates, largely because Gates chose philanthropy over portfolio growth.
Where the Money Goes
The Gates Foundation has distributed over $83 billion in total grants since inception, focusing on:
- Global health: Fighting malaria, polio, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis
- Education: Improving schools and college access in the U.S.
- Poverty alleviation: Agricultural development and financial services in developing nations
- Emergency response: COVID-19 vaccines, climate change initiatives
Warren Buffett has also contributed $43.3 billion to the foundation, making this the largest philanthropic partnership in history.
Spending It All Down
Unlike traditional foundations that exist in perpetuity, the Gates Foundation plans to spend its entire endowment within 20 years of Bill and Melinda's deaths. In 2025, Gates announced he'll double his giving to $200 billion over the next 20 years. The foundation currently spends around $8 billion annually—more than the entire budget of some UN agencies.
Critics debate whether billionaire philanthropy is ideal (shouldn't governments handle this?), but the scale is undeniable: Gates has probably saved millions of lives through vaccination programs alone.
Not bad for a guy who started out selling computer software from a garage.