Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates Giving up wealth for millions of health and wellness and exclusively announced on Thursday that he will be spending $200 billion at the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years.
door First revealed his plans for nearly all Wealth in an interview with CBS Morning co-host Tony Dokoupil last week, saying he will take a "fair, value-driven approach" to allocating funds. It will involve several reasons, focusing on global health and education. His ultimate goal is to save tens of millions of lives, especially those of women and children with HIV, malaria and other deadly diseases.
Here are the highlights of his discussion with Dokoupil about his $200 billion mission and what he calls the "last chapter."
Gates said he wouldn't miss the money, but he does hope he can live long enough to see some positive ways it helps the hard-hit community.
"I hope I'm still alive when we're done 20 years, but I'll save some stuff so I can be able to buy hamburgers," Gates joked.
Some people may be thinking Why now? For the gate, it's simple: You can do more by spending more money. That's why Microsoft's co-founder said he "doubled".
"There are other very wealthy people who can understand what the problem is, and still the rest," Gates said.
He added: "And, in a sense, someone can have as much money as I can."
As the United States and other European countries Cut foreign aid budgethealth experts have Expressed concerns About the impact on global health. According to a report released by UNICEF in March, an estimated 4.8 million children died before the age of five, marking a significant decline since 1990. Gates expects death to rise again, which is a problem he wants to solve.
"I'm going to say that despite the huge and surprising challenges we face right now, I'm very optimistic about the progress that can be made in the next 20 years," Gates said. "The next five, we'll have setbacks due to these cuts, but we'll get -- so the number of 5 million may increase a little bit. That won't happen. It's terrible. But over time, our numbers are even below 3 million."
Gates urged our leaders to consider the difference in maintaining foreign aid (about 1% of last year's federal budget).
"For 1% of people, if you can save 1000 times less lives than we can here, if that creates stability in these countries, then they will be a thriving country and they will be involved in the global economy," Gates explained. "And we don't have to interfere with our military or anything, and the strategic relationship with them, they see us helping them advance, which is why you will be able to see the pandemic ahead as early as possible and stop it from spreading to the United States like Covid."
Gates hopes the United States will follow his leadership to help some of the poorest countries in the world and said he will always advocate for government assistance.
"We never ask more than 1% of people to help the poorest. I think when you're below 1% I think, I don't think the cuts reflect the values I think we should represent."
Some of these topics emerged during a three-hour dinner between Mar-a-Lago's gate in December and President Trump. Gates said they had a "good discussion" about polio and HIV prevention innovations and worked together to "cure HIV."
"Some plans have been cut off since then," Gates said.
On the first day of his second term, Mr. Trump signed an executive order to start the country Withdraw from the World Health Organization. In March, the Trump administration revealed plans to narrow down the Department of Health and Human Services - Overhaul This affected thousands of employees. Part of his plan to cut federal spending also includes Suspend US foreign aid aidessentially concealing the US International Development Agency or the US Agency for International Development.
Last week, senior officials from the Office of Management and Budget said Mr. Trump's Proposed fiscal year 2026 budget It also includes “large reductions in foreign aid”, focusing more on “targeted” foreign aid when it is in the interests of the United States
"I hope to resume some of these aid activities with the president or Congress," Gates said.
The Pew Research Center reported that in fiscal 2024, the U.S. federal government paid nearly $72 billion in foreign aid - reporting $14.4 billion for humanitarian aid.
The door is concerned that cuts in foreign aid could lead to more childhood deaths due to the lack of vaccines and HIV drugs that prevent mothers from infecting their babies.
"Instead of falling down (death) we'll go back," Gates said.
Gates marks many important milestones this year - the Gates Foundation is 25 years old, Microsoft is 50 years old, and Gates himself is 70 years old.
"I'm 70 years old, because when I was young, I thought, hey, those old people don't...they're not very important to the latest things that change, so I'm here.
These days, he spends a lot of time playing pickles and tennis and reading. As part of his partnership with the Gates Foundation, he also travels regularly to Africa and India to oversee some of the programs he works with to improve health and development.
"I'm going to travel and see the impact. And I don't have a job. When I was in my 20s, all I did was work."
Gates said he didn't "feel like a 70-year-old" but he wished he had "more time."
At the end of a letter, he posted his decision online Thursday, explaining his decision on almost all of his wealth, and Gates said he had begun the "last chapter" of his career.
“I wish I was lucky that in 20 years we spent all these resources and I will be able to help guide it and see the work and make sure that others will step in and don’t get anything done in the next 20 years,” he told Dokoupil.
Part of Gates’ motivation stems from the generosity of his good friend Warren Buffett, who has donated billions to the Gates Foundation over the past 19 years. Buffett, 94, announced this month Resigned as CEO of Berkshire HathawayTwenty years ago, Make Life promises would continue to continue to five charities (including the Gates Foundation) until his death. It was then The greatest charitable commitment In history.
“I should make sure I spend a lot of time. Warren Buffett’s generosity, which is always--I feel a huge responsibility to make sure his generosity has a great influence. Now, this is the final stage of all of this,” Gates added.
"What do you want the world to say to the world you have 100 years from now?" Dokouupil asked Gates after thinking about the last chapter.
Gates said he had no "interest" in creating lasting names for himself.
“If I care about this, maybe I will make the foundation a permanent foundation. Others choose to do this,” Gates said, “It’s great. I don't think this is the way to make the biggest impact. Most of the things I do will no longer be the problem. ”
He hopes that a century from now on will be confused by some of the diseases he is working to eliminate - such as tuberculosis, measles and malaria.
"I think we're going to see all children's lives as valuable because the world will be rich enough and the innovation of tools will make you do so strong that you know, the number of childhood deaths between different countries should be small and no different," Gates said.
Another tool that Gates thinks can help: artificial intelligence.
"In a sense, it will be so novel that we are not ready. But, some aspects of it are very positive," Gates said.
While AI can help foster curiosity and become a “very capable tool,” Gates said children will continue to forge their own paths based on their unique interests.
"Kids choose what they are interested in. They don't have to be all AI scientists," he said.
While some may express concerns that AI is a motivated killer, Gates believes that the opposite is true. It can give you more freedom and time to spend on things you are passionate about.
"Well, that's called "the embarrassment of wealth issues," Gates said, "that you don't have to work long hours today. You won't lack a doctor and a huge waiting list."
He added: "Society will decide: How do you spend your time? How fast do you really have, and you get quite a wide range of disagreements, but overall that's where we are going. So we will have more freedom. It's much better than going backwards."