Gates is a well-known philanthropist.
Gates has sometimes said he has no use for money, and often speaks of his philanthropic giving and healthcare investments.
A grant from Gates and his then-wife Melinda led to the creation in 2003 of Amyris, a synthetic biology company that originally produced precursors to malaria drugs and hydrocarbon-based biofuel but also uses the technology for things like fragrances, skincare, and sweeteners. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023.
In November 2017, Gates invested $50 million into Alzheimer’s research. In 2018, he invested another $30 million with a group of investors in the Diagnostics Accelerator, a “venture philanthropy” fund to diagnose Alzheimer’s earlier.
Gates and his former wife also pledged about $2 billion to defeat malaria, donated over $50 million to fight Ebola, and pledged $38 million to a Japanese pharmaceutical company working to create a low-cost polio vaccine.
During the pandemic, their foundation announced a 5-year, $1.6 billion commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to deliver vaccines in the world’s poorest countries.
The Gates Foundation also funds education through its $1.6 billion initiative known as the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.
The foundation said it made $77.6 billion in grant payments from its inception through Q4 2023. Gates’ total giving to the foundation during that time period totaled $59.5 billion.
Its 2024 budget is $8.6 billion, and the foundation is targeting a $9 billion yearly budget by 2026.
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