Bill Gates Slams Musk Over Aid Cuts, Pledges $200 Billion by 2045
In a scathing critique of fellow billionaire Elon Musk, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has accused the Tesla and SpaceX CEO of severely endangering global health efforts by overseeing the dismantling of U.S. foreign aid programs. Gates claimed that Musk’s policies have resulted in devastating setbacks to healthcare systems in some of the world’s poorest nations, ultimately risking the lives of millions of children.
The criticism was aimed specifically at the decision to shut down key operations of the former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which was dissolved under Musk’s government reform initiative dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Gates said the abrupt cancellation of USAID programs caused “immediate expiration of life-saving drugs, disruption of HIV prevention drives, and widespread medical chaos” in nations such as Mozambique.
Bill Gates Donation Plan Targets Global Health
In response to what he termed an “avoidable humanitarian collapse,” Gates announced that he would fast-track the full disbursement of his foundation’s assets. He pledged to give away approximately $200 billion by the year 2045 and wind down the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation altogether.
His new roadmap for philanthropy focuses on combating preventable diseases, reducing maternal and infant mortality, and bridging health disparities across low-income countries. Gates stressed that private wealth must step up where public systems have been “sabotaged or gutted.”
“We cannot wait for governments to change course. Every delay costs lives,” Gates stated, also calling for higher estate taxes on billionaires and more robust global funding commitments to address poverty, disease, and education gaps.
Gates vs Musk: Clash of Ideologies
This latest exchange marks a new low in the long-standing tensions between Gates and Musk, who have often taken sharply divergent approaches to philanthropy. While Musk favors market-driven innovation and has criticized structured philanthropic institutions, Gates has consistently advocated for coordinated humanitarian efforts through organized foundations and global partnerships.
Gates argued that Musk’s dismantling of USAID was “reckless, geographically illiterate, and morally indefensible,” particularly given its immediate consequences on vaccine access, anti-malaria campaigns, and sanitation initiatives in Africa and Southeast Asia.
