Bill Gates belongs to the exclusive group of extremely rich people around the world thanks to the highly successful global company he built, Microsoft.
He has been a billionaire since a very long time, and you will be surprised to know that, despite the billions he has given away in charitable causes, the once richest man of the world has been able to grow his fortune by $9.5 billion in the previous year.
Bill is currently valued at $99.9 billion, and his net worth is still growing with each passing day thanks to the lucrative investments he has made.
You would expect a person like Bill to have a net worth of hundreds of billions of dollars, and that would be a good estimate as he is reportedly worth $99.9 billion as of April 2019. Bill is a generous soul, one that has donated a lot from his earnings for the betterment of those at risk of poverty-related issues.
The $9.5 billion appreciation in his net worth has not come entirely from the profits made by Microsoft but also from other streams of income that he has drafted over the years.
Richer and Richer
Even though Bill is spending a lot of his money on philanthropy, this does not mean that his riches are shrinking. Recently, he entered the highly exclusive group of individuals whose personal fortune is around $100 billion or greater.
Even though Microsoft may not be the most preferred company by investors since its competitors are coming up with arguably more efficient and better products, but that has not affected Bill’s personal wealth. In fact, Bill is getting richer and richer with each passing hour, and that is most likely due to his successful investment company named Cascade Investment.
Bill founded Microsoft back in the mid-70s when the personal computer industry was still in its infancy.
Through this investment company, Bill has substantially invested in various publicly traded companies like Waste Management and AutoNation. Furthermore, through Cascade Investment, he has also invested in the real estate industry as well, a very smart move considering the fast appreciating value in the real estate sector.
The Charity Foundation
Apart from Microsoft and Cascade Investment, Bill also has a foundation dedicated to charitable causes called the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has a stake in a few other companies.
However, these stakes are not for the purpose of increasing Bill’s personal wealth, rather all the proceeds from them go to charity. According to Forbes, Bill has donated $35.8 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This money was reportedly generated from his stocks in Microsoft.
Both Bill and his wife, Melinda, are being credited for making a positive impact around the world through the initiatives being spearheaded by their foundation.
Other Than Microsoft
As stated above, Microsoft is not the only source of personal income for Bill Gates. According to reports, from the 1.1 billion shares that Bill had in Microsoft 15 years back, he now has only 103 million which have a cumulative value of around $12 billion. Reportedly, Bill does not receive any salary from the company as its chairman and does not even receive stock grants anymore.
Despite all of this, Bill manages to make $50 to $60 million either from Microsoft or any of his other investments in major companies. Some of these major companies include Coca Cola, Walmart Stores Inc., Procter and Gamble Co., and CSX Corp, to name a few.
