THE EYE WATERING AMOUNT BILL GATES WOULD BE WORTH IF HE LOST 99% OF HIS WEALTH
Bill Gates’s wealth is beyond what most can conceive, but even if he were to lose 99 percent of it, the sum remaining would still astonish anyone. The Microsoft co-founder had previously pledged to give most of his fortune to Africa, and if he follows through, the continent could experience his wealth distributed across key industries, offering its people sufficient assistance to thrive.
Gates revealed his intention to give away 99 percent of his estimated $200 billion wealth, which he acquired by co-founding Microsoft five decades ago. Being the thirteenth wealthiest individual globally, that contribution would be quite substantial. However, what would he be left with?
According to Forbes, as of 2025, Gates has around $116.6 billion in assets and seems to have recently given away a billion, as indicated by his May update showing a billion less. Let's calculate the figures here
Should Gates donate 99 percent of his fortune, he would remain with $1.16600 billion for personal use. Speaking to Stephen Colbert on his late-night talk show, Gates explained that at the time he had $138 billion, leaving him with $1.3b billion for himself should he invest his money at that time, and the host was stunned. The billionaire from Seattle's charity, the Gates Foundation, held an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, on June 5, where he outlined his intentions to fund health and education services.
“I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be given away over the next 20 years. And so you can see, you know, I'm extremely lucky. My wealth has gotten to a very high level here. And now, by accelerating my giving, I will have the Gates Foundation take all of those resources," he explained.
"And in fact, one thing that I haven't said publicly before is that if we think about the priorities and the great partnerships we have, the majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa."
Last month, he talked to Raj Shamani on his podcast, Figuring Out with Raj Shamani, where he clarified that his children, Phoebe, Rory, and Jennifer, will receive less than one percent of his wealth.
He was asked whether parents should save their money to give to their children, and responded: "Everybody gets to decide on that. In my case, my kids got a great upbringing and education, but less than one percent of the total wealth, because I decided it wouldn't be a favour to them.
"It's not a dynasty, I'm not asking them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success." He continued to express that by investing in Africa, he can assist them in developing 'next-generation healthcare systems' using AI
"As Graça said, it's time for Africans to leverage all the resources at their disposal and take the destiny of the people into their own hands," he said.
He continued: "I can say to you that this will be deeply important. It's an incredible opportunity. It brings challenges with it, but as we drive it forward, it will make a huge difference in health, education, and agriculture. "And now I'm seeing young people in Africa embracing this, and thinking about how it applies to the problems that they want to solve."
