This Is How Much Bill Gates Just Gifted To The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

According to a recent report, Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates has donated more than $955 million worth of Deere & Company DE stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Per the Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the co-founder of Microsoft transferred more than 3 million shares of Deere stock to the foundation on Thursday from Cascade Investment LLC.

On Friday, the foundation announced that it received a gift of 44,548,156 Common Shares from Canadian National Railway Company CNI, worth $5 billion. 

Before receiving the Canadian National Railway Company gift, the Trust had owned 10,278,630 Common Shares, representing approximately 1.5% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are co-Trustees of the Trust.  

Earlier this week, the foundation pledged to increase its annual payout by 50% over pre-pandemic levels to $9 billion annually by 2026.

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“With the support and guidance of our board, the Gates Foundation intends to increase spending from nearly $6 billion per year before COVID to $9 billion per year by 2026. Our focus will remain the same—but at this moment of great need and opportunity, this spending will allow us to accelerate progress by investing more deeply in the areas where we are already working,” Gates said in the note.  

Last year in May, after the Gates filed for divorce, Bill transferred more than $850 million in shares of Deere to Melinda. 

“I am very proud of the Gates Foundation’s role in mitigating a lot of issues. We have been able to help bring together other foundations, non-profits, governments, multilateral agencies, and the private sector as partners to solve big problems,” Gates added. 

Photo: Paolo Bona via Shutterstock