California jul 27 : Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, earlier this month, had pledged that he would be giving away all of his wealth to his philanthropic foundation to eventually be off the list of the world’s richest people.
Now, almost a week after the tweet was shared on July 13, it has been reported that the 66-year-old gave away shares worth more than $6 billion last week to his charitable foundation.
According to SEC filings seen by Business Insider, the American businessman donated close to $5.2 billion worth of stock in Canadian National Railway Co to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The report also mentioned that the Microsoft co-founder also gave away $995 million worth of shares in Deere & Co. to the foundation on Thursday, filings from the last week show. Business Insider reports that more than 3 million shares were moved from Gates’ investment vehicle, Cascade Investment LLC, to the private non-profit organisation.
This comes after the tech company co-founder tweeted, “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives.” Gates had also written: “I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”