THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION CASE STUDY

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

This paper summarizes the case study of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world's largest private grant making foundation and a
global leader in private philanthropy. It has become a significant contributor to global health and
a key player in determining international health policy over the last nearly two decades. The
Foundation's primary operations include grant making and advocacy. The Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation strives to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing
countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to rise above
hunger and extreme poverty. The United States aims to ensure that all people, particularly those
with the fewest resources, have access to the chances they need to succeed in education and in
life (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2022).

After his success with his company Microsoft, Bill Gates founded the Foundation in
1987. Microsoft's stock skyrocketed, earning Gates more millions; however, he wasn't engaged
in charity as he was absorbed in running the corporation and thought it could wait until he was
older. The world was expecting good deeds and contributions since he was the richest man at
that time. According to Steiner, J.F., & Steiner, G.A (2012), in 1994, Gates formalized his
charitable contribution by establishing the William H. Gates Foundation and endowing it with
$94 million. Gates's father agreed to manage it from the basement. This arrangement eventually
evolved into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which included his wife's name and was
operated by professional staff from its new offices in Seattle. In the year 2000, Bill Gates
donated $16 billion in Microsoft stock to his Foundation. Through the years, he has given more.

The Foundation now has a $37 billion endowment, making it the world's largest. It is
divided into two parts. One section decides which projects to fund. More than $25 billion has
been distributed so far. The other component manages the endowment by investing the funds in
order for them to grow. The Gateses are closely involved in the activities of the Foundation,
which is founded on a set of "simple values" that inspire them. The first is that "all lives,
regardless of where they are led, have equal value," and the second is that "to whom much is
given, much is expected." Giving is concentrated in three areas: global health, poverty alleviation
in developing countries, and public education in the United States (Steiner, J.F., & Steiner, G.A,
2012). According to Scordato, L. et al. (2012), a major contribution is the large multiplier effect
THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION CASE STUDY

achieved for funding vaccines and immunization in terms of governments' engagements to

support GAVI and the private sector's support for International Financing Facility for
Immunization (IFFIm).

According to Steiner, J.F., & Steiner, G.A (2012), The Foundation's aspirations are
ambitious because its endowment is unprecedentedly huge, exceeding the GDPs of 107
countries. One is to correct market signals that allow modern medicine to disregard poor
problems, failing to value all lives equally. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation has spent more
than $3.8 billion on basic immunizations for babies in low-income countries, avoiding an
estimated 3.4 million deaths thus far. It buys so many vaccines that prices fall, allowing millions
more children to receive them. It will spend billions more to develop new vaccinations for
tropical parasitic diseases and to combat polio's comeback in Africa.

Furthermore, Steiner, J.F., & Steiner, G.A (2012) stated that in 2006, Bill Gates' friend
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and the world's second-richest man at the time,
chose to give away most of his money by bequeathing 10 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway
to the Gates Foundation. He believed Bill and Melinda Gates were doing such an excellent job
that he could not do any better, and rather than managing billions of dollars in donations on his
own; he placed his legacy in their capable hands. His gift was approximately $31 billion at the
time, roughly doubling the Gates endowment. It is paid in annual installments ranging from $1
billion to $2 billion. The co-chairs set the Foundation's grant-awarding priorities and goals of the
three main programmes; Bill and Melinda Gates, Bill Gates Senior, and Warren Buffett
(Scordato, L. et al. 2012). The programmes have a team that formulate strategies that
subsequently achieves goals. Notably, Bill and Melinda Gates, and the foundations CEO,
approve the proposed strategy submitted by the programme teams thereafter a budget is
developed and grantees identified.

The Gates Foundation is confronted with massive socioeconomic issues. Poverty and
sickness defy solution. It is difficult to spend huge sums in poor countries. Corruption diverts
revenue. Agencies are undercapitalized. When baby lives are saved through immunization, more
people live to seek routine treatment. Due to a lack of doctors and nurses, some countries
struggle to offer even the most basic care. As a result, children are protected from diphtheria only
to die in enormous numbers from ordinary diarrhea. Improving education is yet another
THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION CASE STUDY

challenge. After spending $1 billion over six years to improve tiny high schools, an investigation
found that attendance, graduation rates, and basic subject test scores were lower than at similar
schools not financed by the Gates Foundation (Steiner, J.F., & Steiner, G.A, 2012).

Regardless of its grandeur, the Gates Foundation has its critics. Only three trustees lead
it–Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet–and its multibillion-dollar expenditures are
controlled by only two families. It has been described as an elitist, anti-democratic institution
that taxpayers support (through tax exemptions) but lacks accountability to society (Steiner, J.F.,
& Steiner, G.A, 2012). Suspicions have been expressed that its large funding shape the world's
health agenda and distort research priorities, such as by overemphasizing vaccinations for
tropical diseases over other types of treatments. The Gateses and Warren Buffet, on the other
hand, desire to follow in the footsteps of their charity. In 2009, they organized a series of small,
private dinners attended by other billionaires. Guests were urged to donate the majority of their
money to charity, either during their lifetime or at death, with each choose which causes to
support. This campaign was formalized the next year in a "Giving Pledge" signed by 40
billionaires. Their pledges are merely moral obligations; they are not monitored or enforced in
the same way that legal contracts are. The Gateses and Buffet intend to expand the idea to other
countries. Their purpose is to divert wealth from the very wealthy in order to broaden the scope
of global philanthropy for future generations.

As stated before, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation collaborates with organizations
all across the world that are utilizing innovative approaches to enhance healthcare. The major
goal is to help ensure that medical advances are made and shared with people who need them the
most. According to studies, good health is vital to a country's positive cycle of increased
education, stability, and wealth. This is accomplished by appropriate investments in healthcare,
training trained medical personnel, and scientific research (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
2022).

In conclusion, a philanthropist is someone who gives money, experience, time, talent, or

skills to benefit others and make the world a better place. Philanthropy is one way to transform
riches into a social benefit. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet follow in the footsteps of a long line of
wealthy entrepreneurs who earn riches and then spend their fortunes on charitable endeavors
later in life.
THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION CASE STUDY

References

1. Steiner, J.F., & Steiner, G.A (2012). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin Company Inc.

2. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2022). Foundation Fact Sheet. Retrieved on March 8,
2022, from https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/foundation-fact-sheet

3. Scordato, L., Soreide. H. F., Gulbrandsen. M., (2012). The Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation and global health issues. Retrieved on March 8, 2022, from
https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/meeting-global-challenges-through-
better-governance/the-bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-and-global-health-
issues_9789264178700-7-en#page1