Following the divorce of the Gates, the richest philanthropic couple in the world, what will happen now to their famous foundation?
After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates divorce, but they will continue their influential foundation together. A look at the life of the super-rich and their work.
This is one of the most influential couples in the world: Bill and Melinda Gates. With an identical statement on Twitter, the billionaire founder of Microsoft and his wife announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage. "After careful consideration and hard work on our relationship, we have decided to end our marriage," they wrote this Monday, May 3, without mentioning the reasons for the separation.
But although they go their separate ways in their personal lives, they plan to continue their foundation together, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in which they exert great influence. "Over the past 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation dedicated to helping people lead healthy and productive lives around the world," the couple continued. They affirmed that they will continue to advance together in this mission. The foundation is considered the largest donor in the healthcare sector.
A super rich man who gives in
Gates is currently the fourth richest person in the world, with an estimated fortune of about $ 120 billion. In 2008, he withdrew from Microsoft's operating business to the extent possible. Together with his still wife, he had already created a few years earlier one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world, with a capital of almost 47,000 million dollars. Much of the money comes from Gates himself. In 1999 he donated a third of his fortune, about $ 28 billion. He also announced that in the future he would give them 95% of his fortune. The great investor Warren Buffet also contributed a considerable amount.
The foundation focuses on three areas: fighting extreme hunger and promoting education and health. The money goes to many aid projects around the world, as well as to the WHO. One well-known project, for example, was Gates's "Toilet Revolution." Over many years, Gates and his wife, through their foundation, invested more than $ 200 million in the technical development of toilets that do not need flushing water or a sewer system, in order to make it more accessible around the world.
Gates has also contributed to the search for a coronavirus vaccine, investing money in seven potential candidates, including the German biotech company CureVac. Gates had been warning of epidemics for years. According to the New York Times, Gates has invested in total more than a billion dollars in the fight against pandemics. The money is generated in a trust in which companies such as Caterpillar and Walmart invest.
Make money off the giants of agriculture?
But Gates has also come under fire for his commitment. He has been accused, for example, of collaborating too much with controversial agricultural companies such as Monsanto, whose herbicides are considered carcinogens. But close ties with aid organizations and heads of state are also viewed with critical eyes, and in some cases they are described as non-transparent and undemocratic.
In the crisis caused by the coronavirus, many conspiracy theories have also hung over Gates' actions, claiming that he wanted to control humanity with microchips. Gates himself reacted calmly and spoke in the media of "strange opinions".
Two people, one mission
Until now, Gates shares the presidency of his foundation with his still wife and billionaire Warren Buffet. "We continue to share the conviction in this mission and we will continue to work together in the foundation," they said. But the divorce between Mr. and Mrs. Gates may also change the financing.
"The divorce of the most important couple in philanthropy raises all kinds of questions about the future of the foundation and even the future of philanthropy," Stanford political scientist Bob Reich wrote on Twitter. A statement from the foundation says so far: "They will continue to work together to formulate and endorse the foundation's strategy, advocate for the foundation's causes, and provide direction for the organization."
Monica Mazzei, a San Francisco divorce attorney, believes the future of the foundation will largely depend on the extent to which the Gates plan to work together in the future. "Even in the friendliest divorces I have seen, the preference has been to divide the foundation in two so that there is more autonomy and less friction."
An anecdote about a foundation newsletter illustrates that friction can occur. In her 2019 book, Melinda Gates recounts how she argued with Bill about it. Originally, Bill wrote the newsletter alone, but Melinda wanted them to write it together. Then in 2013, a paragraph came from Melinda, a little more the following year, and finally in 2015, the newsletter became a true co-production of the two for the first time.
