Bill Gates has decided to spend almost all of his money on charity

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has announced that he has decided to spend 99% of his fortune on charity over the next twenty years, the BBC reports.

"When I die, many things will be said about me, but I am determined to make sure that they do not say about me, 'He died rich,'" Bill Gates wrote on his website , quoting the words of American magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie that he who dies rich dies disgraced.

True, as of today, if Gates gave away 99% of his money, he would still remain a billionaire. In the text about his decision, he included a chart according to which his fortune is now estimated at $108 billion.

The Gates Foundation (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) has long funded projects in healthcare and other areas, but now, as the Microsoft founder explained, he has decided to speed up spending: if until now he and his wife planned for the foundation to operate for decades after their death, now he has decided that the foundation will give away all the money and close in 2045.

Gates turns 70 this fall.

According to Gates's calculations, his foundation will spend about $200 billion over these 20 years – the final amount will depend on the market situation and inflation. Over the 25 years of its existence, the Gates Foundation has already allocated $100 billion for healthcare and development in various countries.

Over the next twenty years, the foundation, Gates wrote, will pursue three main goals: defeating diseases that are preventable but still kill mothers and children, defeating infectious diseases including malaria and measles, and lifting hundreds of millions of people around the world out of poverty.

Asked why he made the decision, Gates told the BBC on Thursday that in 20 years there will be different rich people in the world who will have a better understanding of how to help people solve problems.

"It's about urgency. We can spend a lot more than that unless we're going to live forever, and I know that spending will be consistent with my values," Gates said.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. This year, the giant in the world of computers and information technology turns half a century old. Gates himself stepped down as the company's CEO in 2000, as chairman of the board in 2014, and left the board of directors in 2020.

In an interview with the BBC, the former richest man on the planet Bill Gates again accused the current richest man on the planet Elon Musk of having his Department of Government Effectiveness under the Trump administration kill children by cutting US aid spending to other countries.

"These cuts aren't just killing children, they're killing millions of children. I wouldn't expect that from the richest man in the world," Gates said.

The Gates Foundation is a sponsor of BBC Media Action, the BBC's charitable arm that operates independently of the corporation's news divisions.