Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world with a wealth that comfortably exceeds 100,000 million dollars. We analyze the main investments of the Microsoft co-founder, articulated through the ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’.
“We are a non-profit organization that fights against poverty, disease and inequality throughout the world,” says the Foundation on its website. But objectives as ambitious as eradicating malaria or providing drinking water to the entire world population require substantial resources, which forces them to make the right investments.
Not surprisingly, the top stock in the portfolio is Microsoft: thanks to donations from Gates himself, the foundation owns 39.2 million shares of the tech giant, which are valued at more than $11.32 billion and provide more than $100 million annually. in dividend income for the foundation to work for.
The actions of Microsoft have shot up almost 40% so far this year, largely thanks to the artificial intelligence boom fueled by the success of Chat GPT. It is the second most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of 2.50 trillion that places it only behind Apple.
Another investment that is proving profitable in 2023 is Ecolab Inc, a company dedicated to water treatment and purification services. His actions they haveup 21% so far this year, raising the market capitalization to 50,720 million dollars. The foundation owns 5.2 million shares worth $863.7 million. What’s more, Ecolab’s share price has risen from $63 a share when Gates came in in 2010 to $178 today.
A rise of 8.6% so far this year accumulates Berkshire Hathaway. The Foundation owns some 19.7 million shares of the holding company, worth approximately $6.1 billion. Berkshire Hathaway, owned by the billionaire Warren Buffetthad been the trust’s main holding since 2007. However, it fell to second place in 2022 and to third in the first quarter of this year, meaning it has divested of 37% of the shares it reached. have.
The friendship that unites Gates and Buffett is well known, but it must be clarified that the Microsoft co-founder does not personally manage the foundation, but that this responsibility has fallen on Michael Larson for almost 30 years. Taking into account that it is not a question of profitability, one explanation for this lower exposure could be the fact that Berkshire Hathaway does not pay dividends, which would have led the manager to seek other more generous companies in this section.
On the downside, Bill Gates’ second largest portfolio position, Canadian National Railway, is performing quite poorly in 2023, with a cumulative drop of 4.6%. Gates’ fund owns 54.8 million shares of the Canadian company, worth approximately $6.47 billion.
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The most profitable investments in the portfolio of Bill Gates