Before Bill and Melinda Gates got a divorce, Bill would often speak about how little their three kids would inherit. He used to say that their kids would “only” get $10 million each, which is enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, but it’s relatively paltry when Bill and Melinda were, at that time, worth around $130 BILLION. When Melinda filed for divorce, there were some interesting stories about how she never agreed with Bill about leaving their kids so little of their vast fortune. She allegedly made Bill change his will and negotiated a bigger inheritance for their kids, plus she has her own divorce settlement and I assume she’ll leave a chunk of her money to the kids now as well. I sort of forgot about this whole inheritance issue, but trust that an Indian podcaster would bring it up to Bill. Bill revealed what he’s leaving his kids now: less than 1% of his fortune.
Bill Gates recently divulged to Indian podcaster Raj Shamani that his three children — daughter Jennifer Gates, 28, son Rory Gates, 25, and daughter Phoebe Gates, 22 — will inherit “less than 1 percent” of his unfathomable wealth when he dies. According to Forbes, the Microsoft co-founder has a current net worth of $101.2 billion, and 1 percent of that amount is still upwards of $1 billion.
The topic came up when Shamani claimed that it’s often the perceived “duty” of many Indian parents to “save everything for their kids” instead of giving their money to those less fortunate via “charity work.”
Bill, 69, famously established the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable organization, with his then-wife, Melinda Gates, in 2000. (After their 2021 divorce, it was renamed the Gates Foundation, and Bill took over as its sole chair.) Shamani asked Bill during the conversation what he believes is the “right mindset” for parents to have when it comes to inheritance.
“I think everybody gets to decide on that,” the computer programing expert replied. “In my case, my kids got a great upbringing and education but [will get] less than 1 percent of the total wealth because I decided it wouldn’t be a favor to them. It’s not a dynasty. I’m not asking them to run Microsoft. I wanna give them a chance to have their own earnings and success, be significant and not overshadowed by the incredible luck and good fortune I had.”
Though he believes that those who have made their fortunes in the “tech sectors are probably the most aggressive about giving most of it away,” he made sure to note that “different families see [the situation] differently.”
Shamani then asked his guest whether his children had ever expressed disappointment that the majority of his billions would not end up in their accounts.
“You don’t want your kids to ever be confused about your support for them and your love for them,” Bill explained, “and so I do think explaining early on your philosophy that you’re gonna treat them all equally and that you’re gonna give them incredible opportunities but that the highest calling for these resources is to go back to the neediest through the foundation.”
He added that his brood has “seen the success of the foundation,” and he hopes “they’re very proud” of it.
I get the argument of “well, this isn’t a business dynasty.” I also understand Bill’s commitment to putting the bulk of his fortune into his foundation, which Melinda chose to leave post-divorce. If I was in his kids’ place, I would want to be on the board of the foundation. Not for the money, but for the family legacy of it all. To see the “Gates inheritance” in action, funding important work internationally. What is “less than 1%” I wonder – did Melinda negotiate something like $200 million for each kid? Plus, they’ll inherit more from her?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
