Billionaire businessman Bill Gates has made what has been tagged his largest donation since the turn of the century with the giving away of 5 per cent of Microsoft Corp. shares worth $4.6 billion.
The gift, which accounted for 5 per cent of the Microsoft founder’s fortune and the world’s biggest was reported in Securities & Exchange Commission filing released Monday.
According to Bloomberg, Gates donated 64 million of the software maker’s shares valued at $4.6 billion on June 6.
And while the recipient of the gift wasn’t specified, Gates has made the majority of his donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity he and his wife use to direct their philanthropic efforts.
The gift is the largest Gates has made since 2000. The 61-year-old gave away $16 billion worth of Microsoft shares in 1999 and $5.1 billion a year later, according to calculations by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports that Bill and Melinda Gates have given away about $35 billion of stock and cash since 1994, based on the value of the shares at the time of gifts, according to a review of two decades worth of Gates Foundation tax returns, annual reports and regulatory filings.
Gates created the Giving Pledge in 2010 with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and the pair have been joined by 168 others who’ve promised to give the majority of their wealth to charity.
In spite of the donation, Bloomberg says Gates remains the richest person on earth with a fortune the Bloomberg Billionaires Index values at $86.1 billion. Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos whose fortune has risen 30 percent since Jan. 1, briefly overtook Gates to become the world’s richest person last month.
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