Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has nearly 59% of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust’s roughly US$38 billion investment portfolio concentrated in just three publicly traded companies, underscoring a long-standing strategy of backing large, durable businesses with strong cash flows.
According to the foundation’s latest regulatory filings, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway and Waste Management together account for the majority of the trust’s equity holdings, making them the financial backbone of one of the world’s largest private charitable endowments.
Microsoft remains the single largest holding in the portfolio, reflecting Gates’ deep historical ties to the software giant he co-founded. Despite years of gradual trimming, the foundation continues to hold a substantial stake, benefiting from Microsoft’s dominance in cloud computing, enterprise software and artificial intelligence.
Berkshire Hathaway, led by veteran investor Warren Buffett, represents another core pillar of the trust’s investments. The conglomerate’s diversified exposure to insurance, railroads, energy and consumer businesses has made it a long-term stabilising asset within the foundation’s portfolio. Buffett has been a close friend and adviser to Gates and has donated significant portions of his own wealth to the foundation.
Waste Management, a less glamorous but highly resilient business, rounds out the trio. The company’s predictable revenues, pricing power and essential services model have made it a favoured defensive holding for the trust over many years.
The heavy concentration highlights the foundation’s preference for a focused, conviction-driven investment approach rather than broad diversification. Income and capital gains generated from the portfolio are used to fund global programmes in health, education, poverty reduction and climate-related initiatives.
While the trust periodically rebalances and adds smaller positions, its continued reliance on these three stocks signals confidence in their long-term fundamentals and their ability to support the foundation’s philanthropic mission for decades to come.
