Gates have won great praise for their efforts, but the foundation has also received a fair share of criticism for working to protect the intellectual property rights of private companies. The foundation tapped its expertise and relationships to play a significant role in formulating the global response to the pandemic, investing early in vaccine candidates and helping shape Covax, the global initiative organizing the purchase of vaccines for 92 poor countries and dozens of other nations.

Over more than two decades, the foundation has spent billions to push vaccines to the developing world, working with pharmaceutical executives to transform the market. With 1,600 staff members in offices around the world, the Gates Foundation gives away roughly $5 billion each year in areas like global public health and development. “The divorce may have huge repercussions for the foundation and for its work across the globe.” “The Gates Foundation is the most important and influential philanthropic entity in the world today,” said Rob Reich, a professor of political science at Stanford University. Gates said in a statement that was posted to Twitter. “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” Mr. Over the past year, the couple have been especially visible, regularly commenting on the worldwide fight against Covid-19 as their foundation spent more than $1 billion to combat the pandemic. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of some $50 billion, has had immense influence in fields like global health and early-childhood education, and has made great strides in reducing deaths caused by malaria and other infectious diseases. Gates have been powerful forces on the world stage, their vast charitable contributions affording them access to the highest levels of government, business and the nonprofit sector.

Gates made as a co-founder of Microsoft, said on Monday that they were divorcing.įor decades, Mr. Bill and Melinda Gates, two of the richest people in the world, who reshaped philanthropy and public health with the fortune Mr.

Microsoft money 2005 file too large