Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said Wednesday that he plans to give all of his wealth to his and his ex-wife's philanthropic organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In a Twitter thread, the Microsoft co-founder announced he was transferring $20 billion to the foundation's endowment this month to increase spending to $9 billion per year by 2026, citing the setbacks caused by the pandemic, the war on Ukraine, and other factors.
"As I look to the future, I plan to give virtually all of my wealth to the foundation," Gates said. "I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world's richest people."
He also thanked famed billionaire investor Warren Buffet for his longtime contribution to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and said his "incredible generosity is a huge reason why the foundation has been able to be so ambitious."
Buffett, Gates, and Melinda French Gates founded an initiative called The Giving Pledge in 2010 as a "movement of philanthropists who commit to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills." Its garnered signatures from over 200 billionaires across the world.
"I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives," Gates wrote. "And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too."
Gates has long been vocal about the need to give his wealth away, citing a lifelong belief in addressing global issues like climate change. He has even said his wealth won't pass to his children to become billionaires since he's giving so much of it away.
He has a current net worth of $114 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
