The former Microsoft CEO slams Elon Musk for his efforts to cut back on funding for US support to poor countries.
Tech billionaire Bill Gates says he will hand over 99% of his wealth over the next 20 years and fund a charity long enough to close in 2045.
In a statement released Thursday, Gates also firmly criticized the way that Elon Musk, an adviser to his fellow centribian, President Donald Trump, is pushing for cutting US funds for essential items such as food and medical assistance in poor countries.
“The photographs of the world’s wealthiest man killing the poorest children in the world are not pretty kids,” Gates told the Financial Times, referring to Musk’s work with the Trump administration and dismantled the United States International Development Agency (USAID).
With a current estimated net worth of around $108 billion, Gates is one of the most well-known figures in the field of philanthropy, with a focus on medical assistance in poor countries.
He has also become a symbol of the great impact that such wealth has on everything from politics to global health.
Criticism of pandemic vaccines
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Gates was the opponent of the mitigation protections around Covid-19 vaccines to enable poor countries to produce their own versions and distribute them more quickly.
Critics accused him of promoting his vision of “vaccine apartheid.” They also question whether Gates will wield disproportionate influence in the global health sector without the same surveillance and accountability that public agencies face through heavi funding to groups such as the vaccine group Gabi and the World Health Organization.
For many years, Gates has stated that he is determined to give him a large portion of his enormous fortune. He is currently worth around $108 billion, but the foundation expects he will spend a total of about $200 billion by 2045, depending on inflation and markets.
“When I die, people will say a lot about me, but I’m determined that ‘he died in rich’ isn’t one of them,” the 69-year-old Microsoft co-founder said in a post on his website.
“There are too many urgent issues I will be able to solve to keep the resources I can use to help people,” he added.
Gates also lamented that the US had pulled back from its commitment to global health and humanitarian aid around the world, providing a subtle responsibilities for the Trump administration.
“It is unclear whether the richest countries in the world will stand up for the poorest,” he said.
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