Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates would have a fortune of around $464 billion and rank as the world’s second-richest person if he had not given away much of his wealth, Forbes estimated.
Gates’ net worth stands at $103.9 billion as of April 22, according to Forbes.
In a “True Net Worth” ranking released Monday, Forbes recalculated billionaire wealth by adding back donated assets, finding that Gates would have about $356 billion more than his current fortune.
His estimated 731 million Microsoft shares that he gave away would now be worth about $287 billion, alongside his cash donations. Together, these contributions exceed the total wealth accumulated by any billionaire other than Elon Musk.
Since founding the Gates Foundation in 2000 with ex-wife Melinda French Gates, the pair have donated around $60 billion. Gates also gave $12.5 billion to women’s empowerment initiatives established by Melinda after she left the foundation in 2024.
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Bill Gates attends the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2026. Photo by Reuters |
In May 2025, he said the foundation plans to spend $200 billion before shutting down by 2045. Gates and Melinda, together with Warren Buffett, launched the Giving Pledge in 2010 to encourage billionaires to commit most of their wealth to charity.
Under the same “True Net Worth” measure, Musk remains the world’s richest person with an estimated $839 billion, about $19 billion higher than his current wealth. Buffett would rise from ninth to third with about $363 billion if he had not donated large portions of his Berkshire Hathaway shares.
