The Gates Foundation has pledged $200 billion in spending over the next 20 years toward its mission of helping people live "healthy, productive lives," a campaign the organization described as the largest philanthropic commitment in modern history.
The expedited timeline, enabled by a charter adjustment okayed by the board of directors, aims to ultimately close the foundation, founded in 2000 by Bill and Melinda Gates.
"There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people," chair Bill Gates wrote in his foundation newsletter. "That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned."
With the funding commitment greater than the foundation's current endowment, the balance will be provided from Gates' personal fortune. The tech billionaire and philanthropist said he would distribute virtually all of his wealth through the foundation over that time period "to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world."
"The decision marks a major acceleration in the foundation's work and sets a new date of 2045 to sunset its operations," the foundation said.
The charter had originally stated the organization would sunset 20 years after Gates' death, but the Microsoft cofounder said he began to rethink that timeline several years ago.
"More recently, with the input from our board, I now believe we can achieve the foundation's goals on a shorter timeline, especially if we double down on key investments and provide more certainty to our partners," he said.
In the next 20 years, the foundation said, it will work toward three primary goals: helping to end preventable deaths of moms and babies; helping the next generation to grow up safe from deadly infectious disease; and lifting millions out of poverty and supporting paths to their prosperity.
The foundation said it helped achieve major global progress in all three areas and hopes to capitalize on that success.
"The truth is, there have never been more opportunities to help people live healthier, more prosperous lives," Gates said. "Advances in technology are happening faster than ever, especially with artificial intelligence on the rise. Even with all the challenges that the world faces, I'm optimistic about our ability to make progress - because each breakthrough is yet another chance to make someone's life better."