Foundation Trust

In October 2006, the original trustees of the foundation, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett, created a two-entity structure. One entity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, distributes money to grantees. The other, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, manages the endowment assets. This structure enables us to separate our program work from the investment of our assets. In 2025 the names were changed to the Gates Foundation and the Gates Foundation Trust.

How the Foundation Trust works

The Foundation Trust holds the endowment, including the annual installments of Warren Buffett’s gift, and funds the foundation. Bill is the trustee of the Foundation Trust, and the endowment is managed, as it has been for almost three decades, by Cascade Asset Management Company. Warren has no involvement in the investment of the endowment through the Foundation Trust, including decisions that might be made regarding Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock.

The role of the foundation

The foundation conducts all operations and programmatic work, and it is the entity that makes all grants. Bill, Mark Suzman, Ashish Dhawan, Dr. Helene D. Gayle, Strive Masiyiwa, Minouche Shafik, and Tom Tierney serve as the foundation’s governing board.

Because the original trustees believe the right approach is to focus the foundation’s work in the 21st century, the foundation will spend all of its resources within 20 years after Bill's death.

The decision to use all of the foundation’s resources in this century underscores our optimism for progress and determination to do as much as possible, as soon as possible, to address the comparatively narrow set of issues we’ve chosen to focus on.