Featured Image Credit: John Nacion / Contributor / Chris Jackson / Staff / Getty
When you think of the richest people in the world, the big three com to mind.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg right?
But back in the day, Bill Gates was right up there.
As the man behind Microsoft, Bill Gates had the honor of becoming the world's first-ever centibillionaire in 1999, as well as being the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2010 and 2013 to 2017.
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According to Forbes' real-time billionaires list, Gates is currently worth $107 billion.
This is quite the drop from the $160 billion that he was reportedly worth in November, especially during a time when most of the world's richest are only getting richer in a post-election boom.
Although we're sure Gates' wealth will soon climb, $107 billion isn't exactly a small amount.
When it comes to Gates' fluctuating wealth, it could come down to him continuously giving it away.
As for what Gates plans to do with his money when it's gone, his continuing charitable efforts mean he wants to give away 99.96% of his wealth through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with ex-wife Melinda French Gates.
In terms of assets, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the second-largest charitable organization in the world and boasts an endowment of $70 billion.
Even though the foundation wasn't founded until 2000, Gates has reportedly donated over $50 billion to charitable causes since 1994.
On his list of donations, he's helped fund research into AIDS and Polio, advance gender equality, and promote education.
The latter led to him donating $20 million to Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University to help build the Gates Center for Computer Science.
It all comes as part of Gates and Warren Buffet creating The Giving Pledge in 2010 - encouraging billionaires to pledge to give away at least half of their wealth to charity.
He reiterated the importance The Giving Pledge in a July 2022 post on X, saying that he wants to give away 'virtually all' his wealth and move off the list of the world's richest people before his death.
Don't feel too bad for Gates' children because they'll still be looked after. During a 2011 interview, Gates explained his three children will inherit a 'miniscule portion' of his massive fortune in the form of $10 million each. Gates reiterated this was part of a conscious decision to promote hard work, and in a Reddit talk, once said: "I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them...Some people disagree with this but Melinda and I feel good about it."
More recently, there have been rumbles that Melinda might've tried to leave the kids more during her 2021 divorce settlement. Page Six suggested that her appointment of top trust and estate lawyers was to up their $10 million inheritance, although there's been no official word.
When it comes to the richest around, Gates isn't alone in his charitable endeavors. Buffet says he hopes to give away 99% of his worth, while Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan also plan to get rid of 99% of their Facebook shares over the years.
