Bill Gates’ net worth drops $51 billion in one week; here’s why the Microsoft co-founder is happy to give it away
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index updated its ledger on July 13 and wiped $51 billion off Bill Gates’ fortune in a single stroke. One week earlier, he sat on an estimated $175 billion; the revision puts him near $124 billion, nudging him down to twelfth place globally. The plunge isn’t the result of bad bets or a Microsoft sell-off gone wrong. Instead, it reflects Gates’ plan to empty his pockets long before the undertaker knocks. In a May blog post, he vowed that no obituary would say he “died rich,” and he gave his foundation a deadline of 31 December 2045 to distribute almost everything he owns.
Bloomberg simply caught up with how aggressively those transfers have already begun. So while headlines shout “loss,” Gates sees progress toward a promise that reshapes both the billionaire rankings and the future cash flow of the world’s largest private charity.
