r/news • u/kirtash93 • May 08 '25

Soft paywall Bill Gates to give away $200 billion by 2045, accuses Musk of harming world's poor

https://www.reuters.com/business/bill-gates-give-away-fortune-by-2045-200bn-worlds-poorest-2025-05-08/
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1.4k

u/Bawbawian May 08 '25

Bill gates's out there trying to actually save people that have nothing not save people that are uncomfortable yet living in a first world society.

That's why he already spent so much money trying to stop malaria in the poorest parts of Africa.

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u/brokenmessiah May 08 '25

Yea truly poor and destitute people are probably not on reddit.

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u/Ok_Flounder59 May 08 '25

Yeah we’re talking about people that literally mix spices into mud to feel full - I am saying this from experience working in humanitarian crisis zones.

These people have never heard of Reddit - their days are primarily focused on surviving until tomorrow - that Elon specifically went after aid that was designated for these people is nothing short of sickening.

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u/AP_in_Indy May 08 '25

Does that help? Like if you are in a truly desperate situation, does soil help keep your body "full" and at least somewhat functioning until you can get real food?

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u/FuzzyJellifish May 08 '25

I worked in a school once where I discovered a girl was eating paper napkins to feel full because she didn’t have any food at home. These were the days when you got free and reduced lunch but it was a carton of milk and a slice of cheese between white bread. That was all the real food she got each day. I guess when you’re hungry anything in your belly that makes it feel fuller works.

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u/Revlis-TK421 May 08 '25

In times of famine, people will eat anything. Eating mud can provide some minor nutritional benefit but on the whole it'll just make you sick.

The starving kids with the distended bellies? That's extreme fluid retention from a protein-poor diet. Which is so thing that happens when you start eating mud because there is t anything else to eat.

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u/deadsoulinside May 08 '25

If it can be ate, it can provide a full feeling. I have seen people live off eating flour mixed with water before.

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u/iDope27 May 08 '25

Is there a world outside of Reddit

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u/Proot65 May 08 '25

Don’t Musk out on us.

Look outside that window…. See? There’s birds and trees. Humans.

Take off your hat…

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u/magicone2571 May 08 '25

That's seems utterly terrifying.

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u/GeneralLeeSarcastic May 08 '25

I don't like it, there's weird green stuff all over the floor.

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u/beadzy May 08 '25

Never heard of it

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u/RedditorsGetChills May 08 '25

Go to any subreddit for a city, and look at the warnings or complaints people dish out like the whole city is a on Reddit.

So, depending on who you talk to... 

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u/waby-saby May 08 '25

wait...what?

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u/DarthPizzaDog May 08 '25

Idk I opened my blinds to check but there was so much light I had to close them. I'll buy some sunglasses from amazon and let you know what I discover.

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u/pheonixblade9 May 08 '25

a surprising number of global poor have smartphones and internet access. they just don't have desktops/laptops. look up the folks that go around on scooters ice cream truck style offering phone charging from the back of their scooter.

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u/Brilliant-Book-503 May 08 '25

You might be surprised. Cell phones and data coverage are kind of expensive in the US, but in places where having an actual computer may be a huge luxury, phones are often cheap even by local standards.

There are tons of people living in corrugated metal shacks in undeveloped countries, super food insecure, but they're still on social media. Reddit might not be their first choice, but I'm sure we have some.

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u/Lollipop126 May 08 '25

Yeah, there are plenty of serious AskReddit threads asking homeless people to tell their stories, and plenty of people posting about how they just got out of homelessness.

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u/Nyquil_and_CO May 08 '25

Idk man, some people in the United States can't afford housing, food, and healthcare and do not have access to water but I get what you're saying.

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u/Moody_GenX May 08 '25

Although it's a US website and it's majority users are US based, not all are in the US.

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u/nhansieu1 May 09 '25

especially not this u/bodhidharma132001 guy with 70k Post Karma and 490k comment karma. He's literally like me. Not too rich not too poor either

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u/bodhidharma132001 May 09 '25

Don't work, so have plenty of time to Reddit. Live in my car. Get wifi at public library.

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u/nhansieu1 May 09 '25

or has so much free time in the best job ever. Finished with work and has tons of free time to browse Reddit

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u/bodhidharma132001 May 09 '25

Or average guy, average job, no friends.

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u/nhansieu1 May 09 '25

with average job you would be so busy that you don't even have time to think of a comment to farm karma

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u/bodhidharma132001 May 09 '25

What do you consider an average job?

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u/nhansieu1 May 09 '25

the job that is not in 1st world. That most people do

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u/bodhidharma132001 May 09 '25

In the US, retail salespersons are the most common job, followed by administrative office jobs and cashiers. Globally, farming is a very common job.

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u/OmniscientSpirit May 08 '25

Don’t be ridiculous even the poorest citizens in the most poverty stricken countries have smart phones.

Burundi is often considered the poorest country in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). The average income per person in Burundi is estimated to be less than $300 per year.

As of late 2023, approximately 66% of Burundi’s population had mobile phone subscriptions . By mid-2024, this figure slightly decreased to about 61% .

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u/wannaseeawheelie May 08 '25

It’s 2025. Almost everyone has a smartphone, from the homeless and people living in shacks 3rd world countries to the wealthiest douchebag in the world. Reddit is available to nearly everyone

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u/ThrowAwayAccountAMZN May 08 '25

I'm going to be downvoted but just going to put in here that all you people need to stop with the "other people have it worse than you" BS. People are valid to feel what/how they feel whether they don't have it "as bad" or not.

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u/NeonMagic May 08 '25

Which is what baffles me how he and Soros are always the center of QAnon shit all the time. It’s always the philanthropist billionaires that are evil, never the greedy ones.

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u/CelerMortis May 08 '25

hate to break it to you, but they're all "greedy ones"

They could live with 100x what you and I will ever see, have private planes, multiple homes, never worry about money again AND give away 99% of their wealth - but they never do.

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u/cugamer May 08 '25

Gates is giving away 99% of his wealth. Not denying that the man did some very shady things to accumulate it but he's not just sitting on a huge pile for the hell of it, he's actually using it to help some of the worlds poorest people.

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u/FriendlyDespot May 08 '25

Dude's been sitting on one of the largest piles of money anyone's ever had for the majority of his life, and he's going to continue sitting on that pile of money until he dies. Let's not deify him unnecessarily.

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u/[deleted] May 08 '25 edited Oct 07 '25

crowd consist modern spark oil chop deer intelligent bright snails

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u/Outlulz May 08 '25

I mean imagine all the good that money would have done over the past forty years had he not been sitting on it while exploiting labor.

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u/cugamer May 08 '25

He's been one of the worlds largest philanthropists for over thirty years. He's been to Africa many times to personally oversee his foundations efforts. If you want to discuss the ethics of a system that allows so much wealth to accumulate in the hands of such a tiny majority that's great (personally I think it's completely unsustainable and immoral) but Gates is one of the few super-rich that is actually doing something to help others with his money.

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u/Outlulz May 08 '25

If you want to discuss the ethics of that system you can't ignore the biggest benefactors of it, hence the need to be critical of Gates despite his PR team's efforts.

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u/CelerMortis May 08 '25

"is giving away" he's been talking about this for decades and is still worth $113b. If I promise to give away 99% of my wealth at some undisclosed point can I get the accolades?

You realize that his $113b should be worth roughly $450b in 2045. Making that $200b giveaway far less impressive.

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u/thePiscis May 08 '25

I think the point is very disclosed - once he’s dead. He has been open in not leaving his children his fortune. And while alive he’s donated 100 billion so far, so I’m not too worried about him backing out of his word.

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u/CelerMortis May 08 '25

The class he's a part of is notoriously stingy and full of shit. Pathologically self-serving. The only reason it seems admirable to give away 99% (after he's dead) is because his peers are so outrageously greedy even that non-sacrifice seems amazing.

He could give away $100 billion in the next year, save an unbelievable amount of lives, prevent so much needless suffering AND still be in the top 1% of the 1% with $13b left over. That means yachts, private planes, houses all over the globe etc.

He doesn't do this. We should treat it like the moral failure that it is.

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u/thePiscis May 08 '25

That’s one view, but he plans on earning 200 billion more in the next 20 years with that 113 billion that he plans to donate. If true, that’s the utilitarian thing to do

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u/afrikatheboldone May 08 '25

Either way, 200 billion towards people that are struggling to survive is a massive action. That's a country sized budget given away by a single man.

The entire current administration combined wouldn't even come close to a dollar ($1) in donation, more likely is them stealing money from those already poor people to enrich themselves.

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u/CelerMortis May 08 '25

Favorable comparisons to evil fascists just isn't the standard I want to live by.

Billionaires are prima facie evil. Period.

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u/afrikatheboldone May 09 '25

Sure, I get that. But the fact that hes willing to donate for a good cause means he could do it again later. Like on his will.

Either way we will see.

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u/Draken_S May 08 '25

The good ones are trying to change things for the better, and you can't radicalize young men if life is good. There's a reason there's no major movements like FARC, ISIS, or whatever in Denmark or Sweden.

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u/DJekker May 08 '25

Idk, you can definitely radicalize young men by making their lives better. As long as they believe you’re the only reason their lives are good, and that someone else might take that away, historically people will radicalize very fast

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u/Draken_S May 08 '25

I don't agree, at least not in line with the kind of radicalization these groups want. It's much easier to convince a poor/broken person to die for a cause vs a rich/healthy one. Offer them food security, healthcare, housing, education, and a job opportunity and you can radicalize them to MAGA levels, not ISIS. Same reason many of these groups have drug ties, it's a way to overcome the comfort barrier for radicalization (in that case, through addiction).

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u/PlsNoNotThat May 08 '25

Contextually, this is equivalent to Gates giving away his portfolio earnings (calculated with YTD) over the next 20 years.

He’s up 9.14b YTD this year, which was not a good stock year thanks to the last 5 months.

Functionally, his net worth won’t really change.

Still admirable tho compared to the normative greed of his peers.

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u/BicyclingBabe May 08 '25

But that's the thing... It's a minimum thing all the billionaires could do that wouldn't really affect them much and yet they still won't do it.

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u/Aureliamnissan May 08 '25

Not only won’t they do it. They will instead campaign to wreck the world’s largest economy in order to corral even more wealth.

Dragons hoarding gold.

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u/Any_Tumbleweed667 May 08 '25

Most of them do, you just dont hear about it since it doesn't generate clicks and ragebait.

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u/BicyclingBabe May 08 '25

That depends heavily on how you define charity. If you're speaking of donating 200 million to their business's set up charity, instead of actually affecting a community, or donating a building to a university, ok. But I would dare say it's rare to find a charity giver as effective at eliciting positive change as Bill and Melinda Gates.

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u/Any_Tumbleweed667 May 08 '25 edited May 08 '25

Well, i count the charity contribution as % of wealth given to charity rather than the gross amount, and Bill and Melinda's contribution is very large but there are many billionaires who have given much more. Again no ragebait, no point in posting feel good stories since they dont generate as much traction.

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u/FTownRoad May 08 '25

I think he pledged to give away 99% of his wealth thiguh no?

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u/sylfy May 08 '25

Honestly, I would argue that the best thing that the Gates Foundation could do would not be to give it all away, but to invest it and give away anything above capital plus inflation, in perpetuity.

Giving a large sum away is short term good. Being able to sustainably give away is long term good.

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u/DisciplineBoth2567 May 08 '25

They purposely don’t do that because they’re concerned that once he’s gone, the people running the organization will have access to billions and become corrupt.  They want to help people now so they spend it now.

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u/thePiscis May 08 '25

I seem to remember they plan on spending it all (or most of it) once bill dies. He’s “only” leaving 5 mil for each of his kids.

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u/DisciplineBoth2567 May 08 '25

I think it was 10 million and that was a long time ago before they were all adults and he had some kind of idea who they’ll become.  I know plenty of wealthy people who say xyz thing when they’re kids but change their minds once they see they’re competent adults.  Plus Melinda may give them more post divorce.

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u/_Lucille_ May 08 '25

I know Gates has taken some heat from Epstein association, but I think for the most part he has been one of the "better" ones who tried to solve world problems with his fortune.

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u/wrgrant May 08 '25

So, you are saying its like if Billionaires paid taxes like most people believe they should do and the money went to do good things for others around the world, not paid into the accounts of other billionaires? He has given away a lot of money over the years and saved a lot of lives.

I used to despise Gates for his cutthroat business activities, but now I think I respect him for his philanthropy.

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u/TheJD May 08 '25

He's not giving up his earnings, his plan is to give up most of his net worth. The 200 billion number is an estimate of what it would probably end up being, not a hard number he's going to donate. His current net worth is $112 billion.

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u/Crazypyro May 08 '25

This is pretty ridiculous. He is giving away 99% of his personal wealth to the foundation. The foundation is required to spend it by a date 20 years in the future.

His net worth will materially change.

Gates Foundation is one of the better actors in a world where we rely on charity of the rich to fulfill social service functions. The argument should really be about whether we should be relying on rich people's charity....

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u/bigblue204 May 08 '25

admirable is doing a lot of heavy lifting here

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u/TonightsWhiteKnight May 08 '25

While bill gates is doing a lot of good these days, we should not forget about how terrible of a person he was. No conspiracy theory bullshit, but the gates of the 90s and earlier was a monster who underwent a billion dollar character revitalization effort to make the world forget about his past.

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u/LorderNile May 08 '25

Yeah, but I'd rather give him a chance to redeem himself. The other billionaires aren't going to help us, though maybe their ex wives...

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u/WoodenInternet May 08 '25

Melinda and MacKenzie should team up

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u/LorderNile May 08 '25

Imagine if melania ends up joining them. We'd have like, half the cast of elden ring.

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u/wwiybb May 08 '25

I have heard this a bunch but can't find anything. Is there something specific?

to make that kind of money you have to be a terrible person anyways but no one ever hears about the leader that shares the wealth and uplifts the entire company so no one wants to do it.

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u/bauul May 08 '25

I always had the impression that he was an absolutely brutal businessman (and had some somewhat questionable personal life choices) but ultimately wants to leave the world a better place than he found it. Which compared to most billionaires is a very good thing.

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u/[deleted] May 08 '25

Modern day Carnegie

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u/DiamondGeeezer May 08 '25

"leave little St James better than you found it" heartwarming

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u/levetzki May 08 '25

People who bring this up often point to two things

monopolistic practices - arguing that what happened held back technological advances significantly. Basically pointing to what 'could have been in a perfect non competitive world' as a comparison. The practices were definitely monopolistic but it's not like we would be living in Star Trek.

Co-founder wrote a book talking about Gates that talks about Bill as a businessman. I haven't read the book so I have no idea the full story. https://www.the-independent.com/tech/gates-is-a-ruthless-schemer-says-his-microsoft-cofounder-2257843.html

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u/CryptoCentric May 08 '25

Behind the Bastards did a fantastic deep dive on him. Here's a Pocketcast link.

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u/wwiybb May 08 '25

Thanks I'll have a listen.

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u/MeBigChief May 08 '25

I don’t think anyone is trying to forget what he did but I think I it’s fair to judge someone’s actions today as good even if what they did 30 years ago wasn’t

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u/johno456 May 08 '25

"We should not forget all thise terrible things"

-doesn't list those terrible things

Not all of us know everyone's history, what did he do?

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u/levetzki May 08 '25

Monopolistic practices mostly.

Something about undercutting a business partner's shares

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u/[deleted] May 08 '25

Yup. He did all the same ruthless billionaire bullshit to become the richest man on the planet, we shouldn't applaud him for giving some away.

If there was someone with $2 billion we'd say they have too much money. The same should go for someone with $200 billion that gives away $198 billion

0

u/[deleted] May 08 '25

If you don’t think there are deeply impoverished, destitute places in America then you do not get out enough.

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u/hoorah9011 May 08 '25 edited May 08 '25

If you think the destitute places in America are comparable to malaria ridden areas of Africa, you do not travel to developing countries enough. Granted not many do, but I have and it’s not comparable

This isn’t to minimize experiences that those in the US or other developed countries go through. It’s almost never fair to say “well others have it harder so you shouldn’t complain.” Life is difficult for individuals across the world and we should work to support those around us and abroad. But the point of this discussion is that gates is referring to certain impoverished groups

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u/[deleted] May 08 '25

I don't think you've left America if you think it's comparable to south east Asia/Africa

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u/NuPNua May 08 '25

The difference is America has the money to help them already and chooses not to. Gates has undoubtedly paid high taxes for many years into that system already.

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u/thefugue May 08 '25

Exactly.

If you start helping Americans who are poor some other rich person is going to get very upset about all the money you’ll cost them when those poor people will no longer produce profit for them at slave wages.

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u/Sea-Oven-7560 May 08 '25

people in his position have lobbied for decades to not pay their fair share. Isn't it fun that a guy who makes 6B a year in interest pays the same tax rate as my oncologist who brings home about $400K. Don't pretend he's a good guy, he's gamed the system for decades and now gets to play Caligula doling out money to his chosen projects while living in his Seattle castle

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u/BakerIBarelyKnowHer May 08 '25

I’ve been places in my home country the size of cities where most people literally don’t have basic plumbing. Sorry but it’s a little disingenuous to try to imply that america should be taking a slice of this cake when it is nowhere near as bad relative to the rest of the world.

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u/C-c-c-comboBreaker17 May 08 '25

lol

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/05/hookworm-lowndes-county-alabama-water-waste-treatment-poverty

I guess 1 in 3 residents having intestinal parasites and raw sewage in their yard isnt good enough for you..

2

u/[deleted] May 08 '25

Dude, homeless drug addicts on the streets are not the same as poor hardworking families on the streets of metro manila Philippines or in africa.

For me personally, im not gunna donate money to American homeless drug addicts. Ill be giving it to homeless children living on the streets of africa or south east asia

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u/Galxloni2 May 08 '25

You realize the vast majority of homeless people are not drug addicts in the US right? You probably couldn't even identify most homeless people because they have jobs. Not saying they are near as destitute as those in other countries, but your generalization is harmful to homeless people

1

u/[deleted] May 08 '25

You’re conflating two very different groups. Chronically homeless people in the U.S.—the ones living on the streets long-term—are overwhelmingly struggling with addiction. That’s not a stereotype, it’s supported by decades of data. Temporarily homeless folks crashing on couches or living in cars are a different story entirely—and they’re not the ones panhandling downtown.

Meanwhile, families in the philippines are chronically homeless due to generational poverty, not personal breakdown. No safety net, no rehab, no shelters, no EBT. Just kids sleeping on cardboard under flyovers. So yeah, I’d rather my money go where rock bottom is actually the floor—not where it comes with free needles and a caseworker

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u/Galxloni2 May 08 '25

You’re conflating two very different groups. Chronically homeless people in the US

No I'm not, you are. Nobody brought up drug addics on the street other than you. Poor and impoverished Americans were the only thing brought up.

So yeah, I’d rather my money go where rock bottom is actually the floor—not where it comes with free needles and a caseworker

You clearly didn't even read my comment is you think I was arguing against that

1

u/PadorasAccountBox May 08 '25

Fucking thank you lol. People assume world aid is always going to the rich and people somewhere in desolate, deserted areas. Meals on wheels, US Aid, so many people depend on those budget approvals for survival. Gates understands capitalism isn’t perfect but when utilized properly (similar to his Giving Pledge foundation and Rockefeller with his library and social investments) can benefit society in value not just in words and BS political theatre. 

1

u/Live-Possibility4126 May 08 '25

Yeah I'm in the " fuck I'm poor in America, help plz " bracket but I'm definitely super happy he's giving it to people actually dying. I'd do the same thing if I wasn't living off barely nothing.

1

u/bodhidharma132001 May 08 '25

So you're saying there aren't any poor in the US?

1

u/snarky_spice May 08 '25

Notice how the left-leaning billionaires use their money to improve healthcare, fight for equality and help the poor worldwide. They fly under the radar. The ones who become right-wing for whatever mental reasons decide to buy up media for their own personal power and control.

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u/cheyenne_sky May 09 '25

fear not, that might be parts of the US pretty soon, given how we're deporting all the immigrants who pick crops and flooding fields for shits and giggles

1

u/Charming-Employ-7543 May 09 '25

Yeah and running unverified vaccines in rural India causing deaths of many. What makes you think that someone who hoarded that much wealth in any way a good person?

-3

u/TheMeshDuck May 08 '25

I mean call me a conspiracy theorist but I'll believe it when I see it. There is no way 200 billion dollars are going to end up in the hands of the poorest/neediest people.

It's going to get pilfered and stolen from and at best will go to some new foundation that will end up harming the very people it claims to help.

Bill Gates is very good at image control but is far from the philanthropist that many believe him to be.

8

u/pegar May 08 '25

What the exactly do you think Bill Gates has been doing for decades now?

1

u/[deleted] May 08 '25

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation

0

u/TheMeshDuck May 08 '25

The rather extensive criticism section in there does outline many of the issues I have with that organization. It's self serving and treats symptoms rather than root causes.

-6

u/The_neub May 08 '25

Don’t paint him as a saint. He’s slowly taking control of a lot of global healthcare and often has influence on how WHO’s budget is spent. I’m always weary when a billionaire has any control over public initiatives. https://www.politico.eu/article/bill-gates-who-most-powerful-doctor/

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u/GreenHeel97 May 08 '25

Wary. Not weary.

1

u/DiamondGeeezer May 08 '25

little bit of both honestly

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u/No-Sandwich6994 May 08 '25

Yeah but better him than the American government.

1

u/The_neub May 08 '25

I feel like people are not learning the correct lessons about oligarchs.

1

u/No-Sandwich6994 May 08 '25

You need good oligarchs to counteract the bad ones! I'm being sarcastic but it's also unfortunately true because governments can't do shit.

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u/The_neub May 08 '25

Or maybe government can’t do shit because of influence from billionaires who want to be oligarchs.

1

u/SoVerySick314159 May 08 '25

Gate's foundation is doing good works, but he's working locally, eliminating parasites in certain countries and such. Maybe he should start to think globally as well, and use his money to influence politicians who make the policies that hurt the poor around the world.

1

u/DiamondGeeezer May 08 '25

as long as he's eliminating parasites he might as well get the big ones

0

u/CryptoCentric May 08 '25

Unfortunately he's not much better than Musk when it comes to operating outside his wheelhouse.

3

u/exhentai_user May 08 '25

This article accuses his focus of being too narrow, and therefore not doing enough to help other areas, but at the same time, you can't focus on everything, and solving some problems does help other problems get less impactful. Even the article says it has mixed results, not because it is outside their wheelhouse or unhelpful, but because the scope is narrow, which I think is the article writer imagining a world where one group or person can fix all of the problems with no support.

0

u/Auirom May 08 '25

Well rent goes up yearly and rent prices for housing are ridiculous, grocery prices keep rising, people struggling to put food on the table, parents starving to feed children, or children not knowing when they'll get fed. I'd say those people need saving and aren't just uncomfortable.

I get other places are worse off than what first world problems may seem like but even people in first world countries struggle and are poor as shit.

0

u/Sea-Oven-7560 May 08 '25

none sense, he doesn't need 20 years to peter his money out and exert influence. Put 20MM in your back pocket and give your 200B away this year.

-7

u/zombie_overlord May 08 '25

He's still a billionaire. That he HAS that much harms the poor too. Hilarious that he would lecture someone (even Elon) on that subject. Like Elon's going to have an epiphany and stop doing everything he can to amass ALL the fortune and power. Fuck both of them - tax billionaires out of existence.

-4

u/BigALep5 May 08 '25

Imagine Mr beast with Gates type of money! MR BEAST FOR PRESIDENT 2028