If he’d never given away a dime or sold a share of the software giant, Gates would have nearly 10 times more to give away.
On Thursday, Bill Gates publicly reiterated that he’ll give away almost all of his remaining wealth and wind down the namesake charitable foundation he cofounded with his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, by the end of 2045. Fueled by Microsoft’s soaring stock price and dividends, Bill and Melinda have already poured a combined $60.2 billion into the Gates Foundation since its founding in 2000, helping cement their status as America’s second-biggest philanthropists. Even after their generosity, they’re still the 13th and 56th richest people in the world, worth an estimated $113 billion and $30.4 billion, respectively
But what if Bill and Melinda never discovered philanthropy–and never sold a share of Microsoft? They’d be worth $1.5 trillion combined, Forbes figures, and Bill would likely be the world’s first trillionaire, with a $1.2 trillion fortune, even after his 2021 divorce. That’s more than triple the net worth of Elon Musk, the richest person ever (estimated net worth: $388 billion, though he peaked at $464 billion in December). Melinda, meanwhile, would be worth an estimated $300 billion, assuming she would’ve gotten the same estimated percentage of the couple’s assets in the divorce, which would make her the third richest person in the world after Bill and Musk .
Just before he took Microsoft public in 1986, Bill owned 11.2 million shares of the company, representing a 49% stake worth around $200 million based on the IPO price. If he’d held onto all of that stock for the next four decades, he and Melinda would now own 3.2 billion shares combined after stock splits, giving them a 43% stake in Microsoft worth $1.4 trillion. The former couple would also have another $100 billion or so of cash from dividends after-tax, according to Forbes estimates. That cash pile alone is higher than the entire net worths of all but 18 of the world’s more than 3,000 billionaires.
In reality, Bill did not hold onto his Microsoft holdings. Instead he sold and gave them away steadily. Today his Microsoft ownership has shrunk to an estimated 0.9% stake worth only $28 billion (or a quarter of his net worth), as he and his Cascade Investments family office have broadly diversified what remains of his still sizable portfolio after all of his charitable giving and the divorce. Among his largest known holdings: waste disposal company Republic Services, tractor giant Deere & Co and Four Seasons Hotels. Melinda, meanwhile, is estimated to own 380,000 Microsoft shares worth only $170 million (or less than 1% of her net worth). Neither Bill nor Melinda have shown up in Microsoft’s SEC filings since Bill stepped down from the board in 2020 after retiring as CEO to focus on his philanthropy in 2008.
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Of course, this alternate reality in which Bill and Melinda hoarded all their Microsoft shares would have deprived the world of a lot of good. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was renamed the Gates Foundation after Melinda resigned as co-chair in June 2024, the couple has doled out an estimated $47.7 billion to date to charitable organizations focused on health and poverty alleviation. That’s more than anyone other than Warren Buffett, who has given away an estimated $62 billion so far, mostly through the Gates Foundation; Buffett was long believed to have earmarked much of his wealth to the Gates Foundation, but wrote in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in November 2023 that a charitable trust overseen by his three children will be the sole beneficiary of his estate. Then last June, Buffett told the Wall Street Journal that “The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death.”
Melinda has redrawn her philanthropic plans too, pouring $674 million into a new foundation called Pivotal Philanthropies in 2022. Then last June, after committing to donate $1 billion over three years to support womens’ and girls’ rights a month earlier, she announced that she would be getting another $12.5 billion for philanthropy as part of her decision to resign as co-chair of the Gates Foundation.
Both Bill and Melinda remain set on fulfilling the Giving Pledge, which they cofounded with Buffett in 2010, in order to encourage other wealthy individuals to give away at least half of their wealth before they die or in their will.
“My parents taught me what generosity looked like through how they used their time and resources,” Bill wrote in his Giving Pledge Letter. “When the time came to choose what to do with my wealth from Microsoft, I knew I had to follow their example. I decided that the vast majority of my wealth would go toward helping as many people as possible.”
Added Melinda in her Giving Pledge Letter: “I recognize the absurdity of so much wealth being concentrated in the hands of one person, and I believe the only responsible thing to do with a fortune this size is give it away—as thoughtfully and impactfully as possible.”
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