The Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it will spend a record $9 billion in 2026, maximizing its spending in key areas such as global health. At the same time it will begin reducing the number of staff positions it has by as much as 500 over five years. This announcement comes in the wake of last year’s surprise decision to shutter the foundation in 2045.
The planned layoffs mark another major shift for one of the largest and most influential foundations in the world at a time when many of its long-term priorities, such as addressing poverty and improving global health, have been undermined by cuts in U.S. government spending by the Trump administration.
Bill Gates said last year that the foundation would spend $200 billion over the next 20 years and then close as part of his plan to give away the bulk of his wealth. This week, he and other members of the foundation’s board approved the largest budget in the foundation’s history, topping last year’s budget of $8.74 billion. With that new dollar amount, the foundation will increase budgets for several programs, including women’s health, vaccine development, polio eradication, AI, and U.S. education.
The board also approved a proposal to cap operating costs — including staff, salaries, infrastructure required to run the organization, facilities, and travel expenses — at no more than $1.25 billion, or approximately 14% of the foundation’s budget. To meet that goal, the grantmaker will cut up to 500 of its 2,375 staff positions by 2030, including some open roles that may remain unfilled. The effort to reduce the staff count along with other expenses will be done incrementally and reviewed annually rather than coming in “a big wave,” foundation CEO Mark Suzman told the Chronicle of Philanthropy in an interview.
