Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos may have recently passed Bill Gates as the world’s richest person, but the Microsoft founder turned philanthropist remains one of the most financially generous people ever. From pumping millions into international medical charities to offering recent college graduates practical advice, Gates’ unceasing quest for philanthropy far outweighs his former company’s decision to excise Microsoft Paint from the face of the earth. For example, the 61-year-old entrepreneur recently dropped a whopping $4.6 billion gift on an undisclosed recipient, according to the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Per Bloomberg, the Securities & Exchange Commission filing obtained on Monday indicates Gates donated 64 million of his Microsoft shares on June 6th. With a valuation of $4.6 billion, Gates’ gift makes it his largest since 2000, when the technology giant gave $5.1 billion in shares to the charitable organization he co-founded with his wife, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The year before that, he gave $16 billion worth of Microsoft shares to charity. Because of of this particular pattern of donations, Business Insider and others suspect Gates’ most recent gift also went to his charitable foundation.
Along with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, Gates’ proclivity for philanthropy makes him one of the most generous members of the world’s wealthier rungs. What’s more, The Chronicle of Philanthropy has determined that his latest gift — should its recipient in fact be he and his wife’s foundation — suggests he has donated a total of $18 billion to the organization. Now if only he could do something about President Donald Trump’s distaste for all things climate change and Microsoft’s decision to revive Clippy.
(Via Bloomberg)