Bill Gates drops $51B in one week following vow not to die rich
Bill Gates is parting with his fortune at a much faster rate than previously expected.
In just a few days, Gates reduced his net worth by a staggering $51 billion—almost 30 percent of his remaining wealth—after recently announcing plans to give away virtually all his fortune in the next two decades.
The Microsoft co-founder's net worth, which stood at $175 billion on July 3, dropped to $124 billion on Thursday, following an updated calculation by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The 69-year-old philanthropist revealed in May that he planned to donate his wealth through the Gates Foundation and then close the organization he co-founded with ex-wife Melinda French Gates by the end of 2045.
BILL GATES PLEDGES TO GIVE AWAY NEARLY ALL HIS WEALTH AND CLOSE HIS FOUNDATION IN 2045
Gates, who held the title of world’s richest man for 18 years, has now slipped to 12th place in the Bloomberg rankings, right behind fellow tech mogul Michael Dell.
Among those who now outrank him is Gates' former right-hand man at Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, who now sits at No. 5 with a net worth of $173 billion.
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Gates' shrinking fortune is largely a result of his commitment to give away his wealth before he dies.
"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," Gates wrote in a May 8 blog post. "There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people."
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Gates said his decision was also inspired after seeing firsthand the real-world impact of the foundation’s efforts, such as distributing vaccines for preventable diseases that continue to kill people in the developing world.
It also came in response to what he described as a stalling of humanitarian progress, citing cuts in U.S. foreign aid and reduced global humanitarian funding.
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The foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations, has reportedly given away more than $100 billion since its inception.