Back in around 1990, I read more than one letter to the editor of the Seattle Times saying Bill Gates should give away or be forced to give away his wealth to help other people. At that time, he had at lesst hundreds of millions of dollars in holdings (in the 1980s). But the Letter writer (one of several) said Gates should be donating most of his assets back then.
If he’d given it away then, it would have been a one shot deal – and there would be few additional grants in the future – because most it had already been given away.
He didn’t give it away all at once as some were demanding.
Instead, he grew his wealth even more – and has now donated over $200 billion to charities, foundations, WHO, research organizations and more.
- Warren Buffett has, so far, donated $60 Billion – and says he has fallen behind and is working to donate more, with plans in place to donate most of his $150 billion estate.
- MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has so far donated over $19.3 billion to charity. Because her assets are mostly in stock investments, her investments have continued to grow and as of 2025, are now at almost $35 billion. She has said she will continue to aggressively donate her assets – and expects to give almost all of it away.
- Michael Bloomberg has donated over $15 billion – so far – including $1 billion to Johns Hopkins University so that their medical school tuition cost is now zero dollars.
- Steve Jobs died early – but his wife has donated at least $4 billion so far and has made commitments to donate about that much more in the next few years.
- Elon Musk, who is comparatively young, has donated $6.5 billion so far. Most of his assets are tied up in his multiple companies, employing hundreds of thousands of people. He intends to continue growing his assets – with a pledge to eventually give away almost all of his wealth.
Today, we have Sanders, AOL, Eilish, and other socialists demanding “billionaires” give up their funds right now – thereby denying us of potentially far greater charity in the future, as we’ve seen with Bill Gates.
This is a basic investment decision: Would you rather have $100 million today or $400 Billion in 30-40 years?
Here’s a historical table of Bill Gates’s estimated net worth from 1985 onward, highlighting key inflection points.
| Year | Estimated Net Worth (USD) | Key Milestones |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | ~$250 million | Microsoft releases Windows 1.0 |
| 1986 | ~$350 million | Microsoft goes public; Gates owns ~45% |
| 1987 | ~$1.25 billion | Becomes the youngest billionaire at age 31 |
| 1990 | ~$2.5 billion | Windows 3.0 launches, boosting PC adoption |
| 1995 | ~$13 billion | Windows 95 release; Gates becomes richest person globally |
| 1999 | ~$90 billion | Dot-com boom peaks; Gates’s wealth surges |
| 2000 | ~$60 billion | Dot-com crash; Gates steps down as Microsoft CEO |
| 2008 | ~$58 billion | Global financial crisis; Gates focuses on philanthropy |
| 2014 | ~$76 billion | Microsoft stabilizes; Gates tops Forbes list again |
| 2017 | ~$89 billion | Strong tech market; Cascade Investment grows |
| 2020 | ~$98 billion | Pandemic tech surge; Gates Foundation expands |
| 2024 | ~$106.4 billion | Ranked 18th richest; $38B in Microsoft shares, $200B managed via Cascade |
| 2025 | ~$108 billion (est.) | Ongoing philanthropy and investment returns |
As of 2025, Bill Gates has donated over $200 billion to charity and his foundations.
Which is a vastly greater return than forcing him to divest of his assets when he was younger.
Forcing billionaires who manage their investments spectacularly well, to divest early, would be devasting to the charitable community and supreme loss for all humanity on a long-term basis.
