In a landmark act of generosity, Bill Gates has donated a staggering $51 billion to combat world hunger—one of the largest individual gifts in philanthropic history. Bloomberg quickly reassessed his wealth, dropping his net worth from around $175 billion to roughly $124 billion as of early July.
This dramatic shift not only reflects Gates’ commitment to giving but also has real consequences for the billionaire rankings. His longtime Microsoft colleague, Steve Ballmer, has now vaulted to the fifth-richest spot, thanks in part to his retained Microsoft shares and prudent wealth management Fox BusinessFortuneWikipedia.
More Than a Drop: A Strategic Legacy Move
Gates’ sizable donation isn’t a one-off. In May 2025, he published a landmark post explaining that “there are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could help people.” He declared an ambitious plan to donate virtually his entire fortune through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years, and to wind down the foundation by December 31, 2045.
This accelerated timeline upends the traditional “perpetual foundation” model. Rather than preserving an endowment indefinitely, Gates intends to front-load giving—doubling down now when the world faces pressing crises and opportunities Financial TimesThe Washington Post.
The Numbers Behind the Mission
- Over $100 billion has already been channeled through the Gates Foundation in its first 25 years.
- Over the next two decades, the foundation will spend more than $200 billion—including both foundation assets and Gates’ future contributions.
- All of this will culminate in the foundation’s closure at the end of 2045.
Gates’ vision mirrors the philosophy of “giving while living”, popularized by philanthropists like Chuck Feeney—and he openly cites Andrew Carnegie’s daring view that “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced” as a key inspiration Gates FoundationFinancial Times.
Ballmer’s Rise, Philanthropy Too
Meanwhile, Steve Ballmer—once Gates’ top lieutenant—has surged up the wealth list. His net worth, largely built on the Microsoft stock he held onto after stepping down in 2014, now stands near $172–173 billion according to Bloomberg and other estimates.
Ballmer’s early move to swap profit-sharing for an 8 percent Microsoft stake has paid dividends well beyond imagination. After leaving Microsoft, he purchased the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 for about $2 billion—now valued at roughly $5.5 billion. Still, philanthropy hasn’t eluded him: through the Ballmer Group, he’s donated more than $4 billion to promote economic mobility across the U.S. WikipediaFortune.
Why It Matters
Beyond the headlines, this episode signals a seismic shift in how extreme wealth can be deployed. Rather than preserving capital for legacy or security, Gates is choosing urgency over accumulation.
- He’s putting real money behind global health, poverty, hunger, and more—front and center when the world needs it most.
- Ballmer’s philanthropy and rising net worth highlight competing legacies: accumulation vs. accelerated giving.
- It sets a new benchmark for billionaire behavior—and rightly raises questions about concentration of philanthropic power.
As Gates puts it, “there are too many urgent problems to solve,” and he’s acting accordingly Gates Foundation.
