Kamal Ghorui
The new non-profit filings have revealed the multi-billion-dollar promise Microsoft founder Bill Gates made to his ex-wide Melinda French Gates when she resigned from the Gates Foundation in 2024. As reported by Frobes, Bill Gates donated nearly $2 billion in 2024 to two of Melinda’s foundations named Pivotal Philanthropies Opportunities and Pivotal Philanthropies Momentum. Each of the foundations received $982 million.These gifts come on top of the $8.9 billion which Gates had already transferred to the two other Pivotal foundations, including a $7.9 billion donation to Pivotal Philanthropies, her main philanthropic vehicle, and $982 million to Pivotal Pathways. The fillings suggest that together Gates has given a total of $10.8 billion across four foundations and fulfilled nearly $12.5 billion commitment he made to fund Melinda’s new philanthropic endeavours. A Pivotal spokesperson confirmed that the agreement has been met, though it remains unclear when or where the remaining $1.7 billion was delivered.
A history of Joint Philanthropy
Bill and Melinda Gates co-founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 and made it one of the world’s most influential philanthropic organisations. Over the years, the two have donated at least $52.6 billion to nonprofits, ranking them as the second-biggest givers globally.The Gates Foundation has also distributed around $83.3 billion in grants through 2024, funding initiatives from tuberculosis reduction to polio eradication. With an annual budget of $9 billion, it remains larger than the World Health Organization, which has a combined $6.2 billion budget for 2026–27.
Melinda Gates Pivotal network
Melinda French Gates has been steadily building her own philanthropic ecosystem under Pivotal, founded in 2015. The umbrella organization now includes five foundations — Pivotal Philanthropies, Opportunities, Momentum, Pathways, and Firefinch — alongside a 501(c)(4) advocacy fund and Pivotal Ventures LLC, a private investment arm.In 2024, Pivotal Philanthropies distributed $487 million, including a landmark $250 million initiative supporting over 80 women’s health organizations worldwide. The smaller foundations, however, had not yet made charitable distributions as of their latest filings.
