Editing Gates Foundation (section)

===Lifespan===
In October 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was split into two entities: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which manages the endowment assets and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which "...&nbsp;conducts all operations and grantmaking work, and it is the entity from which all grants are made".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.philanthropy.com/free/update/2006/11/2006112901.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220226/http://www.philanthropy.com/free/update/2006/11/2006112901.htm|url-status=dead |title=Gates Foundation Announces That It Doesn't Plan to Operate Forever |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/Announcements/Announce-061129.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815085113/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/Announcements/Announce-061129.htm|url-status=dead |title=About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust |archive-date=August 15, 2008}}</ref> Also announced was the decision to spend all of the foundation's resources within 50 years after Bill's and Melinda's deaths.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/Announcements/Announce-061129.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815085113/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/Announcements/Announce-061129.htm|url-status=dead |title=Announcements – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation<!-- Bot generated title --> |archive-date=August 15, 2008}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://philanthropy.com/article/Gates-Foundation-Announces/55464/ |date=November 29, 2006 |title=Gates Foundation Announces That It Doesn't Plan to Operate Forever |work=The Chronicle of Philanthropy |access-date=November 7, 2011 |archive-date=April 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415161045/http://philanthropy.com/article/Gates-Foundation-Announces/55464/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sets lifespan |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gates-foundation/bill-melinda-gates-foundation-sets-lifespan-idUSN0125394420061201 |work=Reuters |date=December 1, 2006 |language=en |access-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129075511/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gates-foundation/bill-melinda-gates-foundation-sets-lifespan-idUSN0125394420061201 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116493514082937519 |title=Gates Foundation Sets Its Lifespan |first=Sally |last=Beatty |date=December 1, 2006 |work=[[WSJ]]}}</ref> This was later lowered to within 20 years of their death.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHJ-8Bch4E  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/cBHJ-8Bch4E| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Interview with Bill Gates September 21, 2013 (Video 33:52) |work=YouTube|date=September 24, 2013 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Foundation Trust |url=https://www.gatesfoundation.org/who-we-are/general-information/financials/foundation-trust |website=Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |language=en |access-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129075509/https://www.gatesfoundation.org/who-we-are/general-information/financials/foundation-trust |url-status=live }}</ref> This would close the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and effectively end the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the 2006 announcement, it was reiterated that Warren Buffett "...&nbsp;has stipulated that the proceeds from the Berkshire Hathaway shares he still owns at death are to be used for philanthropic purposes within 10 years after his estate has been settled".<ref name="autogenerated2" />

In May 2025, Bill Gates announced that the foundation will cease operations on December 31, 2045.<ref>{{Cite web |title=My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth |url=https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/next-chapter |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Gates Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/magazine/bill-gates-foundation-closing-2045.html |title=The $200 Billion Gamble: Bill Gates’s Plan to Wind Down His Foundation |publisher=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |date=May 8, 2025 |last=Wallace-Wells |first=David |access-date=May 24, 2025}}</ref>

The plan to close the Foundation Trust is in contrast to most large charitable foundations that have no set closure date. This is intended to lower administrative costs over the years of the Foundation Trust's life and ensure that the Foundation Trust does not fall into a situation where the vast majority of its expenditures are on administrative costs, including salaries, with only token amounts contributed to charitable causes.<ref name="autogenerated1" />