How Much Does Bill Gates Make Per Second?

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates dropped to No. 5 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. How much does Gates per second? Let's break down his earnings.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has taken the spot as the world’s third-richest person, knocking Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates down to No. 5 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Rest assured, with a total net worth of about $117 billion, Gates isn’t hurting for cash. How much does Gates per second?

Last year, Business Insider estimated that Gates makes about $1,300 per second. At the time, his net worth was about $146 billion. Although his net worth has decreased a bit since then, Gates still makes more in a second than many people make in a day.

Gates’ goal is to get off the list of the world’s wealthiest.

Gates' drop in rank on the Billionaires list may actually be something he orchestrated. In July, he tweeted that his goal was to give away all his wealth and eventually get off the list of the world’s wealthiest people.

“I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for reducing suffering and improving lives. And I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too,” Gates tweeted on July 13.

Gates pledged to give much of his wealth to charity.

Gates and his ex-wife Melinda launched the charitable organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000. The Gates Foundation is one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations. In 2021, the Gate Foundation contributed $6.7 billion in charitable support. The Foundation plans to grow its spending to almost $9 billion by 2026.

In July, Gate donated about $20 billion to the Gates Foundation by transferring some of his shares in Canadian National Railway and Deere & Co. to the charitable organization, Forbes reported.

Gates and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett also started The Giving Pledge in 2010, a campaign to encourage the extremely wealthy to share their wealth with philanthropic causes.

Gates’ wealth may have taken a hit in his divorce.

Bill and Melinda Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. Although the financial details of their divorce weren’t made public, Gates’ net worth at the time was $152 billion. If the couple split the wealth between them, they would have both walked away with about $76 billion, CNN reported.

Melinda is No. 164 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth estimated at $11.1 billion. She has also pledged to give much of her wealth away.

"I do believe that if you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me, you can give away half of it and not change your life," Melinda told CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King in an interview earlier this year. "We should have a society where if for whatever reason wealth is in your hands, you, you put it back in society so that you change and you lift up others."

Gates isn’t leaving all his money to his kids.

With both Bill and Melinda Gates committed to giving away much of their fortune to charity, there won’t be much left for their three children: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. Each will inherit only about $10 million of Gates money.

“It’s not a favor to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth. It distorts anything they might do, creating their own path,” Gates said in a 2017 interview.

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