Guess who continues to be the world's richest man, despite giving a huge portion of his wealth? Who else?
Bill Gates has made his largest gift to charity in 17 years, giving away 5 percent of his wealth in Microsoft shares.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing released yesterday, the billionaire donated ?64 million of the tech giant¡¯s shares on June 6, valued at $4.6 billion. It¡¯s not clear which charity he donated the amount to, but experts believe it may be the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charity Gates and his wife set up in 2000.
The latest donation is Gates¡¯ largest since he gave away $5.1 billion in 2000. Just a year before that, he had donated $16 billion of Microsoft¡¯s shares, according to Bloomberg.
In total, Bill and Melinda Gates have given away about $35 billion in stock and cash amounts since 1994. The report indicates the latest June donation amounts to about 38 percent of Gates¡¯ holdings in Microsoft, with his total stake now standing at 1.3 percent. Yet, he remains the richest person in the world, with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index valuing him at $86.1 billion , once again in reach of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos overtaking him (even if only briefly).