For a long time, Bill Gates was the richest man in the world. Yet all fortunes eventually fade away, and while the tech billionaire has still got a pretty amazing fortune to his name, he’s no longer the richest man in the world, losing the title to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Of course, Bezos’ new achievement shouldn’t be too surprising, considering that he’s heading one of the most lucrative businesses of the 21st century. But Bezos’ recent rise in the rankings actually has to do with something else: Bill Gates keeps giving away money.
Bill Gates has donated more than $30 billion, equal to Pablo Escobar’s net worth at the height of his power, to his own charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This organization is dedicated to fighting hunger and poverty, improving health conditions in the poorest regions of world, and improving education in the US. Bill Gates, whose net worth remains a pretty impressive $90.7 billion, has pointed out that after a certain point, more money doesn’t really have a utility to him. In 2010, he and Warren Buffett founded the “Giving Pledge”, a commitment by some of the world’s wealthiest people to give away half their wealth. Of the top five richest Americans, Bezos is the only one who hasn’t signed.
One could point out that Gates didn’t start giving in earnest until after he retired from full-time work at Microsoft. And Bezos is still working full-time at Amazon, so there’s plenty of time for him to shed some billions and give generously to various foundations and causes. While Bezos does donate to charity, it’s not nearly on the same scale of Gates or Bezos, giving away a relatively paltry $100 million. He’s also purchased and revitalized the Washington Post. Bezos claims that his philosophy on giving is more focused on the right now than the long-term, the opposite of traditional philanthropy.
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