Although the Gates family has donated billions of dollars to their foundation, their assets continue to grow. As of late March of this year, some of the shares in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust portfolio included Alphabet Inc. (Google), Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Grupo Televisa SA and the largest stake is Warren Buff’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust was created in 2006 and operates as an asset manager of a fund and donates part of its annual value (at least five percent) to its philanthropic foundation. The remaining assets are invested in materials, information technology, transport, industry, healthcare, and basic consumer products.
Charity paradox?
Although the Gates family has donated billions of dollars to their Foundation, their assets have continued to grow, raising questions about their true detachment from material possessions and the Foundation’s philanthropic character.
Main investments
Nearly half of the nonprofit’s portfolio comprises just Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the conglomerate led by investor Warren Buffett. According to Insider Monkey, a financial investment analysis website, the Trust is estimated to have donated more than $11 billion worth of Berkshire stock to the foundation since its inception.
The Foundation’s Trust consists of an asset management fund that donates part of its income to the foundation, which can thus support certain entities chosen by it.
Currently, according to Fintel, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust’s Q1 2022 portfolio consists of just 22 holdings. The most recent portfolio value is calculated at $19,765,347,000 USD.
Some of the shares listed in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust equity portfolio at the end of March 2022 included Alphabet Inc. (Google), Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Grupo Televisa SA, among others.
| Company | Sector | Shares | Value ($) | Estimated price paid ($) |
| Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. | Finance | 28,686,679 | 10,123,816 | 154.08 |
| Waste Management, Inc. | Industries | 18,633,672 | 2,953,437 | 29.31 |
| Canadian National Railway | Transport | 13,066,169 | 1,753,000 | 7.10 |
| Caterpillar Inc. | Transport | 7,353,614 | 1,638,532 | 57.22 |
| Ecolab Inc. | Materials | 4,366,427 | 770,936 | 47.30 |
| Walmart Inc | Basic consumer products | 3,020,859 | 449,866 | 54.90 |
| Deere & Co. | Industries | 899. 655 | 373,771 | 335.07 |
| Coca-Cola Femsa SAB de CV | Basic consumer products | 6,214,719 | 341,499 | 43.57 |
| Microsoft Corporation | Information technologies | 944,620 | 291,236 | 281.92 |
| Crown Castle International Corp | Public utility and telecommunications service | 1,420,072 | 262,145 | 36.16 |
| Schrodinger Inc | Information technologies | 6,981,664 | 238,214 | 53.45 |
| United Parcel Service, Inc. | Transport | 740,689 | 158,848 | 111.17 |
| FedEx Corporation | Transport | 534,362 | 123,646 | 90.72 |
| Coupang Inc | Consumer discretion | 5,714,285 | 101,029 | 49.35 |
| Sanderson Farms, Inc. | Basic consumer products | 524,236 | 98,289 | 191.08 |
| Madison Square Garden Sports Corp | Consumer discretion | 278,147 | 49,888 | 185.95 |
| Weber Inc. | Consumer discretion | 2,500,000 | 24,575 | 17.59 |
| On Holding AG Class A | Consumer discretion | 500,000 | 12,620 | 30.13 |
| Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd | Transport | 0 | -100.00 | 71.94 |
| Grupo Televisa SA | Communications | 0 | -100.00 | 12.82 |
| Alphabet Inc | Communications | 0 | -100.00 | 1,161,95 |
| Alphabet Inc. Class C | Communications | 0 | -100.00 | 1,162,81 |
Sources: Fintel and Whale Wisdom (March 31, 2022 report)
