Bill Gates tells his foundation to spend it all by 2045

The Gates Foundation received a death sentence of sorts today. Microsoft co-founder turned billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said today that his foundation will have just 20 years to exhaust its coffers and wind down operations. He has pledged to donate 99% of his fortune, which today is worth an estimated $107 billion, to the foundation. Over the next 20 years of donations, he expects the foundation to spend more than $200 billion. “This decision comes at a moment of reflection for me,” Gates wrote on his website, Gates Notes. “In addition to celebrating the foundation’s 25th anniversary, this year also marks several other milestones: It would have been the year my dad, who helped me start the foundation, turned 100; Microsoft is turning 50; and I turn 70 in October.” The total of Gates’s donation is expected to be the second-largest philanthropic gift in U.S. history, adjusted for inflation. Warren Buffett, whose net wealth is estimated at $160 billion, is anticipated to be th ... Read full article.