Billionaire tech founders have drawn considerable ire recently, as tensions rise across the United States and economic conditions continue to decline.
With many prices rising due to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and financial markets battling high volatility, it’s easy to be worried about the future, particularly as more and more companies announce layoffs. Additionally, polarizing action from tech leaders such as Elon Musk continues to stoke tensions between economic groups.
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However, in a rare move that likely shocked many, one of the world’s wealthiest men has announced plans to do something rare with his fortune. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who had the world’s highest net worth for years, has revealed what he is going to do with his vast fortune.
This news has shocked the world and elicited many different responses. But one fellow billionaire tech founder recently offered a detailed response, laying out why Gates’ decision matters.
Bill Gates’ recent decision on the future of his wealth has sparked many responses from the tech community.
Image source: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A fellow tech entrepreneur sees the logic in Gates’ plan
Despite his success building one of the tech sector’s most valuable and influential companies, Gates has been more active in the world of philanthropy for the past two decades. In 2000, he founded The Gates Foundation with his now ex-wife, Melinda French Gates.
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This large philanthropic organization has focused primarily on treating and curing diseases and fighting poverty on a global scale. But now Gates has announced that he plans on closing the foundation within the next 20 years, during which time he will give away “virtually all” of his wealth, an estimated $200 billion.
This decision came as a shock to many, especially since most billionaires don’t randomly decide to give away their entire fortunes. So far, many people have praised it, applauding Gates for setting an example for other people like him, who have the type of resources that could make a significant impact in combating major problems.
Reid Hoffman is best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn, but recently, he’s been more focused on artificial intelligence (AI). Most recently, though, he took to the network he helped create to praise Gates for his choice, stating that he has always believed the Microsoft founder deserves to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
In a May 8th LinkedIn post, Hoffman stated that the type of action Gates has displayed is exactly what the world needs more of, particularly as technology continues to compound reality and human suffering increases.
“The idea of blitzscaling — knowing when and how to superscale — isn’t just for startups,” he stated. “It’s a philosophy of action that matters even more in philanthropy. In a world of exponential tools and networked crises, the question isn’t whether to act, but when, how fast, and at what scale.”
Hoffman is the co-author of a book with the title “Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies,” for which Gates wrote the foreward. In it, he defines the word as referring to “a set of techniques for scaling up at a dizzying pace.” As he illustrated in the LinkedIn post, though, this principle of business is applicable far outside the private sector.
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That term may not be widely known outside of the tech world, but it could easily prove essential for helping treat some of the world’s worst ailments. Gates’ journey from tech sector leader to highly influential philanthropist may help illustrate the importance of applying them to philanthropic endeavors as well.
Will other billionaires follow Gates’ example and focus on philanthropic blitzscaling?
Gates’ decision to essentially give away his fortune may have come as a shock to some. But given his decades of focus on his foundation and not building out his fortune, it makes sense that he would opt for this type of action and prioritize maximizing his positive impact on the world in his final chapter.
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As TheStreet’s Colette Bennett reports, when Gates announced his decision to give away his fortune, he noted a quote from fellow industrial and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who stated, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced,” adding that he had spent quite a bit of time thinking about it.
“People will say a lot of things about me when I die,” Gates noted, “but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them. There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
The praise Gates has received from Hoffman and other business leaders indicates that other titans of industry may follow Gates’ example as they consider the best ways to maximize their own impact and use their vast resources for the good of all.
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