Bill Gates Says He's Not an Overly Frugal Billionaire—But by His Grandmother's Standards, He's 'Crazy' for Tossing Gift Bags and Wrapping Paper

Bill Gates might be worth around $106 billion as of this month, but even billionaires have standards when it comes to spending—and according to his grandmother's frugality playbook, Gates is downright reckless.

In a 2023 BBC interview, Gates humorously shrugged off suggestions that he’s “super frugal,” saying, "I don't have a gigantic closet and I don't wear jewelry." But then he admitted he tosses out gift wrapping without a second thought—a move that, by his grandmother's standards, would have been scandalously wasteful.

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"When I’m unwrapping a present, I don’t take the wrapping and fold it up and use it again," Gates confessed. "My grandmother never threw a paper bag in her life or any string on a package. So by her standards, I’m crazy."

Yet, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged at least one extravagance: flying private jets. Critics often highlight his use of private planes, considering he’s a vocal climate advocate. Gates readily acknowledged the contradiction:

"I don’t fly commercial coach class, and I fly on a private plane—so that is extremely extravagant. I wouldn’t travel the world as much as I do, and I do more than offset all those emissions by things like paying for direct air capture to get done—that’s over $9 million a year."

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Even so, Gates insists he's no spendthrift. His fortune is largely directed toward philanthropy. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he’s donated tens of billions to global causes, including the ambitious goal of eradicating infectious diseases like polio and malaria.

Speaking optimistically about polio eradication, Gates shared:

"We only have a few hundred cases per year. And so, it's magic if we can get to zero. We think we have a very credible plan to get there in four years, but it's been much harder than we expected."

Back when the foundation's battle against polio began, over 200,000 children per year were affected, making the goal of “zero” not just life-changing but history-making.

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Despite his massive charitable contributions, Gates has repeatedly pledged he’ll eventually disappear from the ranks of the world’s wealthiest individuals. “I will drop down and eventually off the list altogether,” he said confidently in a 2022 GatesNotes blog post, further emphasizing his belief that excessive wealth has its limits. 

His philosophy? After a certain threshold, money doesn’t significantly improve life. As he said back a 2011 Q&A at the University of Washington, “I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. 

While Gates may never match his grandmother’s standards for saving wrapping paper, his legacy of generosity suggests he’s aiming for a very different kind of standard altogether—one measured in global impact rather than frugality.

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