BREAKING: Bill Gates To Donate $200 Billion By 2045, Accuses Elon Musk Of Harming World’s Poorest Children
Bill Gates announced on Thursday a pledge to give away $200 billion through his charitable foundation by 2045, accelerating efforts to tackle global health issues, reduce poverty, and save lives.
Marking the 25th anniversary of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the billionaire philanthropist said the organisation would now close by December 31, 2045—years earlier than previously planned—as it prepares to spend nearly all of Gates’ estimated $108 billion fortune.
In a pair of interviews with the Financial Times and Reuters, Gates outlined the humanitarian vision driving this commitment and issued a scathing rebuke of fellow billionaire Elon Musk, accusing the Tesla and SpaceX CEO of endangering the lives of the world’s poorest through drastic cuts to US foreign aid.
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates told the Financial Times, referring to Musk’s involvement in slashing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) budget through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The agency’s budget is set to shrink by 80%, following a record $44 billion spend in 2023.
Gates warned of devastating consequences from the aid reductions, which he said could reverse decades of progress in lowering global mortality. “The number of deaths will start going up for the first time … it’s going to be millions more deaths because of the resources,” he said.
The Gates Foundation’s annual budget is expected to rise to $9 billion by 2026 and $10 billion annually in the years after, focused on eradicating diseases like polio and malaria, reducing preventable maternal and child deaths, and expanding access to essential health services. Since its inception in 2000, the foundation has already disbursed $100 billion, supporting efforts like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Despite its substantial resources, Gates stressed that philanthropy cannot replace the role of government. “Progress won’t be possible without government support,” he said, noting that eradicating polio, for instance, is unlikely without continued US funding.
Asked whether he had recently urged Musk to reconsider his stance on foreign aid, Gates replied that the matter was now in the hands of Congress. Musk, in response to an interview clip featuring Gates, briefly posted “Gates should be in prison” on his X platform before deleting the comment. His representatives have not responded to media inquiries.
Gates acknowledged the foundation’s immense influence and the criticism it has drawn over the years, including conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about accountability in global health governance. Still, he remains committed to doing as much good as possible with the resources he has.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people,” Gates wrote in a personal blog post. “It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people.”
Despite the uncertainty, he remains hopeful: “I think governments will come back to caring about children surviving.”
The foundation, originally envisioned to run for decades beyond its founders’ deaths, will now shut its doors once nearly all of Gates’ fortune has been spent. Whether the final tally reaches $200 billion depends on market performance and inflation, Gates noted.
His announcement is a bold reaffirmation of his belief in global solidarity and moral responsibility. “The world does have values,” Gates told Reuters. “That’s what my parents taught me.”
Melissa Enoch
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