Ready, Fire, Aim! - Mihail's Public Blog: Gates Foundation giving away $1.2 billion each year

From Thursday, November 07, 2002

Bill Gates is seen in action in this New York Times story (registration required) about his active involvement with his foundation which still has $24 billion in assets since less than 2% was invested in stocks although Gates is some $40 billion poorer from Microsoft shares' highs. In comparison, the largest endowment is Harvard with about $18 billion down some 10% or so:

The charitable group that Mr. Gates started with his wife, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is now giving away $1.2 billion a year. Mr. Gates said he was pleased that its first major philanthropic effort, the library project, had helped to narrow the digital divide. More than 95 percent of public libraries now offer free Internet access, including those here in Whitman County, which mainly serve wheat farmers and received $93,000 from the Gates Foundation.

...Mr. Gates used to think he would wait until he was in his 60's to give his money away. At 47, Mr. Gates has handed out $5.5 billion for global health issues, education and the library project, which is the first major initiative at the foundation to essentially run its course.

"The more I learned, the more I realized there is no time," he said in a recent speech to the United Nations.