William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, author, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. Bill Gates has become nearly $12 billion richer in the past year alone and he is the fourth most wealthy person in the world according to forbes.
- The Microsoft co-founder is worth an estimated $130.5 billion, according to Forbes.
- Gates is so rich that an average American spending $1 is comparable to Gates spending $1.06 million.
- His wealth is surpassed only by 3 other billionaires, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault & family.
- With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable foundation.
- In May 2020, the Gates Foundation said it would spend $300 million to fight the coronavirus pandemic, funding treatment, detection and vaccines.
- Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft — he owns just over 1% of shares — and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.
- In mid-March 2020, Gates stepped down as a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen (d. 2018) in 1975.
- The foundation works to improve global health and to create equal opportunities for people around the globe.
- To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.