Bill Gates has donated 64 million shares of Microsoft to charity, reducing his personal stake in the company he founded to only 1.3 percent. The value of the shares is estimated to be about $4.6 billion (about RM20 billion); making this his largest contribution since 2000.
The benefactor from this show of philanthropy is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; a charity that Gates himself established with the help of his wife. It’s really no surprise that the Gates Foundation would be receiving all this extra funding.
Gates has been progressively donating his enormous fortune to charity over the last few years. The world’s richest man established the charitable foundation back in 2000 to combat poverty and enhance healthcare around the world. Since then, the Microsoft founder has reduced his stake in the company from 24 percent down to the current 1.3 percent.
He has also been extremely outspoken about the need to combat malaria. A large portion of the grants provided by his charity have gone to eradicating the disease in poverty stricken areas in Africa.
Despite the donation, Gates is still holds one of the largest shares in Microsoft. Former CEO Steve Ballmer currently holds the largest number of shares in the company, with current chief Satya Nadella owning the third largest amount.
[Source: ZDnet]
