Bill Gates charity trust's holdings in fossil fuel firms rise despite divestment claims
Source: The Guardian
Mon 19 Jan 2026 09.00 EST
Last modified on Tue 20 Jan 2026 00.08 EST
The Gates Foundation Trust holds hundreds of millions of dollars in fossil fuel extractors despite Bill Gates’ claims of divestment made in 2019.
End-of-year filings reveal that in 2024 the trust invested $254m in companies that extract fossil fuels such as Chevron, BP and Shell. This was a nine-year record and up 21% from 2016, Guardian analysis found. Adjusting for inflation, it was the highest amount since 2019.
Bill Gates, the tech billionaire and founder of Microsoft, was ranked by Forbes as the world’s wealthiest man for most of the years between 1995 and 2017. In 2000, he and his then wife, Melinda, set up the Gates Foundation, which is now the third largest charitable foundation in the world. It uses its resources for a range of causes including public health, poverty reduction, education and climate adaptation.
Divestment first became an issue for Gates in 2015. At the time, a global campaign by religious figures, climate activists, students and other charities called for large foundations to divest from fossil fuels.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/19/bill-gates-charity-trusts-holdings-in-fossil-fuel-firms-rise-despite-divestment-claims