The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $20 billion gift from co-chair Bill Gates as well as plans to increase its annual payout by 50 percent over pre-pandemic levels—to $9 billion by 2026—in response to compounding global crises, including the pandemic, rising inflation, the war in Ukraine, and climate change.

According to the foundation, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled or reversed two decades of progress toward ending preventable disease, improving education, achieving gender equality, and reducing poverty. With an endowment of approximately $70 billion—including Gates’ and co-chair Melinda French Gates’ joint commitment of $15 billion last summer and Warren Buffett’s annual gift of $3.1 billion in June—the foundation will increase its investments in existing strategies, which include global health and development, gender equality, and education, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, as well as education and economic mobility in the United States.

“Despite huge global setbacks in the past few years, I see incredible heroism and sacrifice all over the world and I believe progress is possible,” said Gates. “But the great crises of our time require all of us to do more….I hope by giving more, we can mitigate some of the suffering people are facing right now and help fulfill the foundation’s vision to give every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life.”

“Philanthropy has a unique role to play in helping people around the world recover from the pandemic and rebuild the underlying systems that left so many so vulnerable to begin with,” said French Gates. “The foundation has spent more than two decades forging relationships with a broad range of partners with the vision and expertise to accelerate the pace of progress for everyone. This additional spending will support our partners’ important work to promote a fair and inclusive recovery and a healthier, more equal future.”

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