Bill Gates Could Have Been A Trillionaire If He'd Kept His Microsoft Stock

Forbes

If he’d never given away a dime or sold a share of the software giant, Gates would have nearly 10 times more to give away.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2025/05/09/bill-gates-would-be-a-trillionaire-if-hed-kept-all-his-microsoft-stock/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Bill Gates would be worth a lot more than Elon Musk if he'd kept his

00:05Microsoft stock.

00:09In early May, Bill Gates publicly reiterated that he'll give away almost all of his remaining

00:13wealth and wind down the namesake charitable foundation he co-founded with his ex-wife,

00:18Melinda French Gates, by the end of 2045.

00:22Fueled by Microsoft's soaring stock price and dividends, Bill and Melinda have already

00:27poured a combined $60.2 billion into the Gates Foundation since its founding in 2000, helping

00:34cement their status as America's second biggest philanthropists.

00:38Even after their generosity, they're still the 13th and 56th richest people in the world,

00:44worth an estimated $113 billion and $30.4 billion, respectively.

00:50But what if Bill and Melinda never discovered philanthropy and never sold a share of Microsoft?

00:56Forbes figures they'd be worth $1.5 trillion combined, and Bill would likely be the world's

01:04first trillionaire, with a $1.2 trillion fortune, even after his 2021 divorce.

01:11That's more than triple the net worth of Elon Musk, the richest person ever.

01:15Musk's estimated net worth is $388 billion, though he peaked at $464 billion in December.

01:23Melinda, meanwhile, would be worth an estimated $300 billion, assuming she would have gotten

01:27the same estimated percentage of the couple's assets in the divorce, which would make her

01:32the third richest person in the world after Bill and Musk.

01:37Just before he took Microsoft public in 1986, Bill owned 11.2 million shares of the company,

01:43representing a 49% stake worth around $200 million based on the IPO price.

01:49If he'd held on to all of that stock for the next four decades, he and Melinda would now

01:53own 3.2 billion shares combined after stock splits, giving them a 43% stake in Microsoft,

02:00worth $1.4 trillion.

02:04The former couple would also have another $100 billion or so of cash from dividends after

02:08tax, according to Forbes estimates.

02:12That cash pile alone is higher than the entire net worths of all but 18 of the world's more

02:17than 3,000 billionaires.

02:21In reality, Bill did not hold on to his Microsoft holdings.

02:24Instead, he sold and gave them away steadily.

02:27Today, his Microsoft ownership has shrunk to an estimated 0.9% stake worth only $28 billion,

02:35or a quarter of his net worth, as he and his Cascade Investments family office have broadly

02:40diversified what remains of his still-sizable portfolio after all of his charitable giving

02:46and the divorce.

02:48Among his largest known holdings, waste disposal company Republic Services, tractor giant Deere

02:53& Co., and Four Seasons Hotels.

02:57Melinda, meanwhile, is estimated to own 380,000 Microsoft shares worth only $170 million, or

03:03less than 1% of her net worth.

03:06Neither Bill nor Melinda have shown up in Microsoft's SEC filings since Bill stepped

03:11down from the board in 2020 after retiring as CEO to focus on his philanthropy in 2008.

03:18Of course, this alternate reality in which Bill and Melinda hoarded all their Microsoft shares

03:23would have deprived the world of a lot of good.

03:26Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was renamed the Gates Foundation after

03:30Melinda resigned as co-chair in June 2024, the couple has doled out an estimated $47.7 billion

03:36to date to charitable organizations focused on health and poverty alleviation.

03:42That's more than anyone other than Warren Buffett, who has given away an estimated $62 billion

03:47so far, mostly through the Gates Foundation.

03:51Melinda has redrawn her philanthropic plans too, pouring $674 million into a new foundation

03:58called Pivotal Philanthropies in 2022.

04:01Then last June, after committing to donate $1 billion over three years to support women's

04:06and girls' rights a month earlier, she announced that she would be getting another $12.5 billion

04:11for philanthropy as part of her decision to resign as co-chair of the Gates Foundation.

04:17Both Bill and Melinda remain set on fulfilling the giving pledge, which they co-founded with

04:21Buffett in 2010, in order to encourage other wealthy individuals to give away at least half

04:27of their wealth before they die or in their will.

Category

Transcript

Recommended