Bill Gates to Shutter Foundation 20 Years and $200 Billion From Now

Bill Gates celebrated the 25th anniversary of his foundation on Thursday by announcing his plans to shutter the operation in 2045. That gives the Gates Foundation 20 years to give over $200 billion towards international health and human development, from both its endowment and the billionaire’s own fortune.

After saving millions of children’s lives around the world and already giving $100 billion towards charitable causes, the foundation first established by Gates and then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000 will come to an end on Dec. 31, 2045.

“You could say this announcement is not very timely. Over the last 25 years, we achieved far more than I — or I think anyone — expected,” Gates told The New York Times on Thursday. “The world invented new tools, we made them cheap, we got them out. We went from 10 million childhood deaths to five million. Over the next 20 years, can you cut that in half again? The answer is: Absolutely.”

However, due to President Donald Trump’s cuts toward foreign aid, the next four to eight years may not be as philanthropic as Gates would hope.

“On childhood deaths, which over the next few years should have gone from five million to four million — now, unless there’s a big reversal, we’ll probably go from five million to six million,” he explained. “Now, that’s not to say that it’ll go back to 10 million. And in the year 2000, when it was 10 million, did people know to feel so bad? Not as much as I wish they would have.”

“You have to go to Africa and see a malaria ward at the height of the malaria season. Or you have to see kids who are stunted. And weirdly, the incredible success of the last 25 years is not as visible to people as it should be,” Gates continued. “But that also means that when people cut these things, will they notice? They cut the money to Gaza Province in Mozambique. That is really for drugs, so mothers don’t give their babies HIV. But the people doing the cutting are so geographically illiterate, they think it’s Gaza and condoms. Will they go meet those babies who got HIV because that money was cut? Probably not.”

“I don’t think we’re going to have administration after administration who cuts and cuts and cuts and cuts these things. I see it as a four- to six-year interruption,” he said. “And if we zoom out and think about 20 years from now — I do think we’ll cut childhood deaths, despite all this, because the Golden Rule was not repealed.”

But ultimately, Gates isn’t going to let anyone stand in the way of his goal.

“My optimism hasn’t been shaken. You could say it’s not just the last four months. It’s certainly post-pandemic. And when did our movement reach its peak — 2008? 2015? But I don’t think it’s inherent. It’s just that some people have focused on other things. If it’s brought to them, if they get to see it, people do care about children’s deaths,” he concluded. “And science — thank God science doesn’t go backward as we invent these tools.”

You can read Bill Gates’ full NYT interview, here.

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