| Net Worth: | $118 Billion |
| Salary: | $1 million |
| Date of Birth: | Oct 28, 1955 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Profession: | Entrepreneur |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
Bill Gates is a name that has been synonymous with richness and massive fortune for many years. All around the world, people still recognize him as the richest man on Earth, despite the claim now being factually untrue. However, despite not being the richest, he is still amongst the richest people on Earth. According to the Forbes live net worth detector, Bill Gates’s net worth currently stands at a whopping 139 billion USD, a net worth experienced by only a few in modern history. Well, how exactly did Bill Gates make his billions? What are the prime sources of his wealth today? Let us take a look into the riches of Bill Gates, including:
• Bill Gates – In A Nutshell
• The Microsoft Boom
• The Donations
• 2000-2016
• The Volatile Years: 2017-Present
• The Portfolio of Bill Gates
• Bill Gates Philanthropy
• What’s Next for Mr. Gates
Bill Gates – In A Nutshell
Everyone who has used a personal computer knows that the initial success of personal computers is linked to Microsoft. This company changed our perceptions about what a computer can do. Microsoft became a huge hit in the 1990s and helped its co-founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, become multi-billionaires. What many people don’t realize is how successful Microsoft had been during that decade.
Apart from Microsoft, Gates has been a part of Berkshire Hathaway, the prime investment firm of Warren Buffet, in which he held a directorial seat as well. Similarly, his investments elsewhere have earned Gates a steady salary as well. All these prime sources of earning have helped him maintain the position of the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years: a record was beaten by none in modern history.
Interesting to note is that Mr. Gates has a generous hand, spending a huge part of his fortune in donations. It is fair to say that if he had not made those donations, he would still have retained the top spot on the list of the richest people on Earth.
The Microsoft Boom
Everyone knows the name Microsoft: even I am using it right now to write about Bill. Its operating system, Windows, powers over 75 percent of the personal computers used globally. However, most fail to realize the extent of its success.
In 1999, due to raging Microsoft success, Bill Gates experienced a brief stint where his net worth crossed 101 billion USD, an unprecedented achievement in modern history. However, the dot-com bubble eventually took a hit on Microsoft’s stock. Therefore, the net worth was reduced considerably for Bill Gates.
The Donations
It must be noted that Bill may still have had a huge fortune after the dot-com bubble if he had not donated significant sums to charity. In 1999, at the pinnacle of its success, Bill made one of the largest donations in history. He gave away 16 billion USD worth of Microsoft shares in a single year. However, the ensuing dot-com bubble plummeted its worth to 5.1 billion USD within a year.
However, this information is restrictive if the entire picture is not considered. Since 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates (now divorced) have given away over 35 billion USD of cash and stock for various charitable purposes. The value of these donations is based on the share price at the time the donation was made. Similarly, the Gates Foundation has been the proponent of many noble activities around the globe as well.
2000-2016
Gates was no less than a Mogul Badshah between 2000-2016, maintaining the richest person position for most of this period. In 2006, Gates remarked that he did not like the excessive attention his top richness spot brought him from around the world.
Briefly, between 2010-2012, Gates was surpassed by Carlos Slim, the Mexican investor, as the richest person on Earth. However, the surge in Microsoft’s stock prices in 2013 helped Gates regain the top position. Additionally, Gates’ wealth doubled from 40 billion USD to over 82 billion USD between 2010-2014.
The Volatile Years: 2017-Present
In October 2017, Amazon’s stock price increased massively, which placed Jeff Bezos above Bill Gates on the top spot for the richest in the world. However, Gates was quick to strike back. In one of the greatest stock increases ever, Microsoft’s stock rose by 48 percent in a single month: November 2019. Therefore, on the 15th of November 2019, Gates regained the top richest spot: a position he held until 2018. Since then, Gates has never been back on the top spot again.
The Portfolio of Bill Gates
Currently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation holds shares in numerous organizations. The biggest shareholding is in Berkshire Hathaway, valued at 11 Billion USD. Similarly, their Waste Management holding is valued at 2.12 billion USD. Other investments include Canadian National Railway Company at 1.54 billion USD, Caterpillar Inc at 1.66 billion USD, and Walmart Inc at 1.40 billion USD.
Apart from the foundation, Bill Gates also owns Cascade Investment that has been operational for over 26 years. Currently, the total assets of the foundation are over 70 billion USD. These investments are divided over Front Range Investment Holdings LLC, Cottonwood Management LLC, and Lakeland Sands Florida LLC.
Similarly, around 26 billion USD of Bill’s net worth is still connected to his prime venture: Microsoft. Therefore, any fluctuation in Microsoft’s stock affects his net worth immensely.
Other firms where Bill Gates has invested his wealth include:
• AutoNation
• Deere & Company
Similarly, Bill has also expressed his desire to make multi-billion investments in developing economies such as Pakistan.
Bill Gates Philanthropy
A major cost factor for Gates’ wealth has been his philanthropic actions and activities. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, his foundation gave away 1.75 billion USD to combat the outbreak. Similarly, around 2 billion USD has been pledged to combat malaria. The foundation states that Malaria should be eradicated within a single generation.
Similarly, Gates has worked hard to promote gender equality and promoting education. The latter has cost their firm over 1.6 billion USD.
Currently, Gates pledges to give away more of his wealth to charitable causes in the future as well.
What’s Next for Mr. Gates
It is hard to determine how the technologically innovative and shrewd Mr. Gates would work on his wealth in the future. However, one thing is certain: more of his wealth will be donated to support humanity, and we will look forward to updating you whenever that happens.