Billionaire, Bill Gates has given out shares to the tune of $6 billion to his charity organization. Earlier this month, he stated that he would move down the billionaire’s list, and it is clear now that the reason is that he intends to give away a sizable portion of his wealth to charity.
According to Business Insider, the billionaire philanthropist gave $5.2 billion worth of his stock in Canadian National Railway Co. to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as stated in SEC filings.
He also went ahead to give $995 million worth of shares in Deere & Co, an American company that manufactures agricultural machinery and heavy equipment to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to the report, another $3 million set of shares was moved from the billionaire’s investment vehicle, Cascade Investment L.L.C to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Despite all his distribution of wealth, the billionaire is still among the top 5 billionaires in the world.
Last week in a post on Twitter, the billionaire pledged to give $20 billion to the charitable foundation this month alone and went further to say that he intends to give away virtually all of his wealth in the future.
In the tweet he stated:
- “As I look to the future, I plan to give virtually all of my wealth to the foundation. I will move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people.
- “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives. And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too”.
The foundation also announced its intentions to increase the annual donations to $9 billion by 2026 and intimated the public about the contributions of fellow billionaire, Warren Buffet.
We appreciate Bill Gates for this great gesture to humanity. We plead that the people of Africa receive priority consideration .
Now, how can we access this largesse.?
Great. How I wish this charity will reach students like me here in Nigeria where our schools have been locked for over 5 months and still counting due to financial crisis.