Billionaire Bill Gates ex-Wife Melinda French Gates Resigns as Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett Resigned in 2021, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Provided $7 Billion in Charitable Support in 2022, Bill Gates & Melinda Divorced in 2021 with $150 Billion Assets
15th May 2024 | Hong Kong
Billionaire Bill Gates ex-wife Melinda French Gates has resigned as Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, joining billionaire & Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett who had resigned in 2021 in leaving the foundation. In 2022, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had provided $7 billion in charitable support. Bill Gates & Melinda had divorced in 2021 ($150 billion assets). In 2023, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had pledged $200 million for faster delivery of lifesaving health solutions & reduction in maternal & child mortality, with $100 million to health products manufacturer Unitaid and $100 million to United Nations agency UNFPA. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “Earlier this week, the foundation responded to an alarming reversal in progress on Global Goal 3 by announcing commitments totaling $200 million to help achieve universal access to family planning products and information, faster delivery of lifesaving health solutions, and a reduction in maternal and child mortality. Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation: “Halfway to the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, our annual Goalkeepers Report shows that on 18 indicators—from poverty to gender equality, education to food security, health to climate—the world is off track. But we also see where innovation, investment, and the extraordinary work of passionate changemakers around the world have the potential to turn the tide, saving the lives of 2 million mothers and babies by 2030.” More info below:
“ Billionaire Bill Gates ex-Wife Melinda French Gates Resigns as Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett Resigned in 2021, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Provided $7 Billion in Charitable Support in 2022, Bill Gates & Melinda Divorced in 2021 with $150 Billion Assets “
CEO Mark Suzman (13/5/24) – I am writing to share some important news. Melinda French Gates has decided to resign from her role as co-chair of the foundation. Her last day of work at the foundation will be June 7. Melinda cares deeply about the foundation and is extremely proud of all of you and the work you do every day to help millions of people live better lives. She made this decision, after considerable reflection, based on how she wants to spend the next chapter of her philanthropy. Melinda has new ideas about the role she wants to play in improving the lives of women and families in the U.S. and around the world. And, after a difficult few years watching women’s rights rolled back in the U.S. and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory.
- I recognize this is very sad news, and we all need time to process it. Many of you have worked closely with Melinda or were drawn to the foundation because of her global leadership, particularly in gender equality, and her ability to connect our work to the people who need support the most. In starting the foundation and setting our values, she has played an essential role in all that we’ve accomplished over the past 24 years. I know how beloved Melinda is here. This is difficult news for me, too. Like you, I truly admire Melinda, and I will deeply miss working with her and learning from her.
- I want to reassure you that the millions of people our work serves and the thousands of partners we work alongside can continue to count on the foundation. With Melinda and Bill’s strong encouragement, I am more committed than ever to leading the foundation. I’ve also spoken with the Executive Leadership Team and each of our independent board members, who are all committed to carrying out the foundation’s work. As the world faces profound inequity and suffering, we all believe our role is more important than ever.
- Bill and Melinda created the foundation with a simple belief: All lives have equal value. I believe wholeheartedly in our mission that everyone deserves the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life. I have been reminded firsthand in recent trips from Texas to Ethiopia about the unique role the Gates Foundation plays in providing opportunities and changing lives.
- Even in this transition, it’s important to remember that we are part of something historic. It’s a unique privilege to be part of an institution that exists solely to make the world better – with the resources to make a real difference.
- In our first quarter century, guided by Bill Gates, Sr. and with the immense generosity and vision of Bill, Melinda, and Warren Buffett, we have made significant contributions to the world, saving and improving tens of millions of lives in partnership with a network of thousands of brilliant partners. Next year, we will celebrate our 25th anniversary, looking back at our historic impact and looking forward to a future where more people can thrive – no matter where they are born.
- As we move to an unprecedented annual payout of $9 billion, we have the opportunity to continue to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth and children who die before their fifth birthdays. Eradicate polio and possibly even malaria. Expand the number of women who are running their own businesses and pulling their families out of poverty. Ensure more people in the United States and around the world have access to the tools and resources they need to educate and feed their children and take care of their health.
- Melinda will not be bringing any of the foundation’s work with her when she leaves. We will be changing our name to the Gates Foundation to honor Bill Sr.’s legacy and Melinda’s contributions, and Bill will become the sole Chair of the foundation.
As Bill and Melinda both stressed to me, the foundation today is stronger than it has ever been, and that’s thanks to all of you and our partners. Collectively, your expertise, passion for the mission, and commitment to impact – measured in lives saved and opportunities provided – inspire me every day to do the best job I possibly can as your CEO. I look forward to continuing that work with you now and into the future, and I know we all wish Melinda the best in her next chapter.
Billionaire Warren Buffett Resigns from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, $49 Billion Endowment
Bill & Melinda Gates – The Giving Pledge
25th June 2021 – Billionaire Warren Buffet, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the richest man in the world ($105 billion), has resigned as trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – a $49 billion trust endowment dispersing grants of $5 billion yearly with $5.1 billion to 136 countries in 2019. Warren Buffet has been donating to the foundation since 2006 to 2019, and have donated $27.3 billion to the foundation during the 14 years. In his official announcement, Warren Buffett, who is also the founder and first signers of the Giving Pledge, cited “being an inactive trustee as the reason for his resignation and he is also halfway through his goal to donate all his Berkshire Hathaway shares.”
Billionaires Bill Gates & Melinda Divorce, $150 Billion Assets
In May 2021, Billionaires Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest man and co-founder of Microsoft, and his wife Melinda filed for divorce in Seattle, United States after 27 years of marriage (1994) citing broken marriage – “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”. Bill and Melinda Gates, with total assets of around $150 billion, are one of the most recognised couple globally for their philanthropic activities, especially through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Founded in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reported $49.8 billion of trust endowment at the end of 2019. Since inception to 2019, the foundation had given a total grant of $54.8 billion. In recent years, the foundation disburses around $5 billion of direct grant support yearly. (2018: $5 billion, $2019: 5.1 billion).
In 2019, the foundation funded a total of 136 countries. In United States, the foundation support those with fewer resources, providing access to opportunities to succeed in school and life. Internationally, the foundation focus on improving health, and helping people to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty.
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates are the Co-chair and Trustee of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is a trustee of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Every year, the foundation received a donation from Warren Buffet. The donation started in 2016 with $1.6 billion, increasing every year and in 2019, the donation amounted to $2.7 billion. In total, the foundation received $27.3 billion from Warren Buffet over 14 years.
Warren Buffet Donation to Foundation:
| Year | Amount |
| 2006 | $1.6 billion |
| 2007 | $1.8 billion |
| 2008 | $1.8 billion |
| 2009 | $1.3 billion |
| 2010 | $1.6 billion |
| 2011 | $1.5 billion |
| 2012 | $1.5 billion |
| 2013 | $2.0 billion |
| 2014 | $2.1 billion |
| 2015 | $2.2 billion |
| 2016 | $2.2 billion |
| 2017 | $2.4 billion |
| 2018 | $2.6 billion |
| 2019 | $2.7 billion |
| Total | $27.3 billion |
The Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a global philanthropic movement launched in 2010 by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates along with Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett with a total of 40 billionaires. The Giving Pledge is a moral commitment by the world’s wealthiest to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.
Currently, there are 220 pledgers from 25 countries.
Notable names are:
- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan ($103 billion)
- Tesla founder Elon Musk ($162 billion)
- Oracle founder Larry Ellison ($90 billon)
- Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Joan Branson. ($5 billion)
- Linkedin founder Reid Hoffman and Michelle Yee ($2 billion)
- David Rockefeller, deceased 2017 (3.8 billion)
Notable names from finance are:
- Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio & Barbara Dalio ($20 billion)
- Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman ($23 billion)
- Carlyle Group founder David Rubeinstein ($4 billion)
- Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg ($59 billion)
- Icahn Enterprises founder Carl Icahn ($15 billion)
- Tudor Investment founder Paul Tudor Jones and Sonia ($7 billion)
(est. current networth, Feb 2021)
Signers of the Giving Pledge
Signers of the Giving Pledge commit to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropy, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.
To Join the Giving Pledge
To join the Giving Pledge, billionaires will need to have at least $1 billion in personal net worth and and are ready to make a public pledge to donate the majority of their personal wealth to philanthropy. Visit: The Giving Pledge
Sign Up / Register
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