Foreign media revealed: Sitting on trillions of wealth, how did Bill Gates spend his money?

Tencent Technology

2024-05-13 06:40Published on the official account of Beijing Tencent News Technology Channel

Highlights:

• 1

  Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has a personal fortune of about $153 billion.

• 2

  Gates has said he will donate most of his wealth to his charitable foundation.

• 3

  Gates also bought a number of luxury items, including luxury cars, private jets, and a large number of mansions.

Tencent Technology News According to foreign media reports, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (Bill Gates) has been the world's richest man for many years, and now his position on the wealth list has slipped to fifth. However, for the legend, the numbers and rankings of wealth no longer seem to be the focus of his attention. In 2022, Gates publicly declared: "I will gradually retire from the list of the richest people in the world until I finally withdraw completely." That's because he plans to donate "almost" of his entire wealth to his charity.

According to the latest data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gates' net worth is about $153 billion (about 1,105.7 billion yuan), and he is one of the few people who can rank among the 100 billion billionaires. However, while enjoying the convenience of wealth, Gates did not indulge in the lure of luxury. Although he owns a $183.5 million mansion in Washington state, a private jet, and several luxury cars, these represent only a small fraction of his vast wealth. In fact, Gates is not known for his extravagance.

What's more, Gates has been actively involved in philanthropy. Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he has donated to education, health care and public health around the world. In addition, he co-founded the "Giving Pledge" campaign with his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett, pledging to donate most of his wealth to charity.

Below, we will explore how Gates wielded his vast wealth:

01 Invest in stocks and other assets to buy private jets and luxury cars

As a co-founder of Microsoft, Gates has a net worth of about $153 billion. For many years, he remained the richest man in the world until he was replaced by Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos in 2018.

At present, Gates has slipped to the fifth richest position in the world, but he is still a member of the 100-billionaire club. His investment strategy is broad and diverse, investing in a variety of stocks and assets, and co-founding a $1 billion investment fund called "Breakthrough Energy" with 20 other industry elites.

Despite having such a huge fortune, Gates maintained a low-key and frugal attitude to life. He once revealed on the show that when he became a billionaire at the age of 31 (and one of the youngest billionaires in history), he did not oversquander his wealth.

However, as time went on, Gates began to show his taste for luxury in some ways. One of the most talked about is his private jet. Gates reportedly owns a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express, a spacious and comfortable aircraft that can accommodate up to 19 people.

An avid collector of luxury cars, Gates bought the first Porsche 911 supercar after successfully founding Microsoft. Although he later auctioned the car for $80,000, it wasn't his only Porsche. His collection also includes a rare Porsche 959.

02 Create a "paradise" and buy luxury houses and land

In Medina, Washington, Gates' "Xanadu 2.0" is unusually remarkable. It took seven years and $63 million to build. Gates owns at least 12 parcels of land here totaling more than 10.5 acres (about 4 hectares), and the total appraised value of these lands and mansions reaches $183.5 million. In 2023 alone, Gates paid a whopping $1.3 million in property taxes on Medina properties.

The estate features a huge swimming pool and is equipped with a state-of-the-art underwater sound system. In order to create the perfect beachfront environment, Gates even imported sand from St. Lucia in the Caribbean to decorate the coast around his house.

In addition, there is a 196-square-meter library that houses the 16th-century Da Vinci manuscripts that Gates acquired for $30 million in 1994. According to reports, there are many displays on the walls of the Gates mansion that can display different paintings or photos. Of course, there are other authentic works such as Winslow Homer's painting, which Gates bought for $36 million in 1988.

In addition to having six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, and a home theater that can accommodate 20 guests, Gates' mansion comes with a variety of garages that can accommodate 23 cars.

In addition to his mansion in Washington, Gates also owns a 20-acre (over 8 ha) estate in Wellington, Florida. There are at least two mansions on this land, one of which is about 619 square meters and the other is about 531 square meters. Gates spent about $35 million and took three years to get the property.

Gates bought the land primarily to support his eldest daughter, Jennifer Gates Nassar, for her love of equestrianism. As a skilled equestrian, Jennifer practised her riding skills here, and it became a popular meeting place for many other wealthy equestrian enthusiasts.

In California, Gates paid $18 million for the 228-acre (92-hectare) Rancho Paseana. The ranch has a racetrack, an olive grove and five barns. In 2020, Gates further expanded his real estate portfolio in California with the purchase of a waterfront home in Del Mar, Calif., for $43 million. The mansion has a jacuzzi that can accommodate 10 people, as well as a 36-meter-long Pacific coastline.

Gates' real estate footprint also includes the retro clubs of Indian Wells, where he owns a luxury six-bedroom home. He also owns properties near the Santa Luz Country Club in San Diego, as well as at the Del Mar Country Club. However, the ownership of these properties may have changed after divorcing his ex-wife Melinda, and it is unclear who each of them belongs to.

The Yellowstone Club in Montana also has Gates estates. According to property records, the main house here is 6,993 square feet (about 650 square meters) and has eight full baths, eight bedrooms, a sauna and a home theater. It is likely that the property was owned by Gates alone after his divorce from Melinda.

In 2009, Gates also purchased a 492-acre (199 ha) ranch in Wyoming, but he is no longer reportedly associated with the property.

Gates is one of the largest private landowners in the United States, with more than 250,000 acres (100,000 hectares) of land, most of which is farmland, according to The Land Report.

Gates has made significant investments through his personal investment firm, Cascade, which not only cover the real estate sector, but also include partial ownership of the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2021, through a series of transactions, he increased his stake in the Four Seasons hotel chain to about 71.25%. In 2013, he and several unnamed buyers bought the Ritz-Carlton hotel in San Francisco for $161 million.

03 Enjoy a luxurious holiday all over the world, especially playing tennis and skiing

In addition to luxury homes and investments, Gates also enjoys luxurious vacations. Although he has said that he has not had weekends or holidays for most of his time at Microsoft, he has made some notable trips.

In 2014, Gates chartered the 439-foot (nearly 134-meter) superyacht Serene for $5 million a week for a family vacation in the Mediterranean, and the yacht was even equipped with a helicopter. He has also travelled to Australia, Croatia, Belize and the Amazon in Brazil.

Gates has a wide range of hobbies, and he has previously expressed a penchant for tennis and skiing. He was also spotted watching the match at the tennis match.

But Gates' breaks weren't always full of adventure. He is also an avid reader. As he put it at the 2013 American Music Awards, he was also an "avid bridge player."

04 The vast majority of the wealth is donated to charity, leaving only $10 million for each child

However, Gates' lavish life is only a fraction of his vast wealth. He is known worldwide for his dedication to philanthropy. "I don't need money," Mr. Gates said in a 2013 interview. However, he often mentions his charitable giving and medical investments.

With funding from the Bill & Melinda Foundation, Amyris was founded in 2003 as a synthetic biology company. The company initially focused on the production of malaria drugs and precursors to hydrocarbon biofuels, but has since also applied the technology to products such as perfumes, skincare products, and sweeteners. However, Amyris filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023.

In November 2017, Gates generously invested $50 million in Alzheimer's disease research. In 2018, he moved on, co-investing $30 million in the Diagnostics Accelerator with a group of investors. It is a "venture charity" fund that aims to diagnose Alzheimer's early.

Gates is often named one of America's most generous philanthropists by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In 2010, he co-founded the Giving Pledge campaign and vowed to donate the majority of his wealth through the program.

Gates and his ex-wife pledged not only $2 billion to fight malaria, but also more than $50 million to fight the Ebola epidemic and $38 million to a Japanese pharmaceutical company working to develop a low-cost polio vaccine.

During the pandemic, the Gates Foundation announced their commitment to the world to donate $1.6 billion over five years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to provide vaccines to the world's poorest countries.

In addition, the Gates Foundation funds education through its $1.6 billion Gates Millennium Scholars Program.

From its inception to the fourth quarter of 2023, the Gates Foundation has paid out a whopping $77.6 billion in grants, while Bill and Melinda have donated a total of $59.5 billion to the foundation during that period. The Gates Foundation has a budget of $8.6 billion in 2024 and plans to reach an annual budget of $9 billion by 2026.

When talking about his future wealth distribution, Gates said that he would leave $10 million to each child, which is only a small part of his net worth. In July 2022, he reiterated that he plans to donate almost all of his wealth to the Gates Foundation, and said that he would eventually withdraw from the list of the world's richest people altogether. (Compiler/Golden Deer)

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