Bill Gates does not have a single publicly audited net-worth figure. Forbes estimated his fortune at $115.1 billion on September 12, 2026, while Bloomberg estimated $102 billion on May 21, 2026. The estimates are snapshots produced by different publishers using different methods, not definitive totals.
Bill Gates’ net worth estimates
| Publisher and estimate | As-of date | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Forbes: $115.1 billion | September 12, 2026 | Forbes’ real-time estimate. Forbes |
| Forbes: $108 billion | March 10, 2026 | Forbes’ separate annual billionaires-list estimate. Forbes |
| Bloomberg: $102 billion | May 21, 2026 | Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimate. Bloomberg |
The amounts are in U.S. dollars. Forbes’ real-time panel and annual list are distinct estimates, and Bloomberg’s figure is from a different date. Their spread does not establish that one is definitively correct: asset prices change, private investments are difficult to value, and publishers make different assumptions.
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How the estimates are calculated
Bloomberg says most of Gates’s fortune comes through Cascade Investment, a holding company created with proceeds from Microsoft stock sales and dividends. Cascade’s holdings include privately held businesses, such as real estate and energy assets, as well as stakes in publicly traded companies. Bloomberg uses disclosed share counts and market prices for listed holdings; for other assets, it combines market indexes with analysis of purchases, sales, taxes, and market performance. Its methodology says publicly traded stakes are valued using the latest closing share price and the index updates each business day after the New York market closes. Bloomberg excludes shares held by the charitable foundation. Bloomberg’s profile and methodology
The Microsoft stake is now a relatively small part of the picture, but its precise current size is not established by a recent company disclosure in the cited material. Bloomberg’s profile described Gates as holding about 1% of Microsoft and noted that later company proxy statements no longer disclosed his stake. Forbes estimated it was below 1% after Gates donated shares worth billions in 2022 to the trust that funds the Gates Foundation. These are publisher estimates, not a verified current filing. Bloomberg · Forbes
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How philanthropy affects his reported wealth
Net-worth estimates account for charitable transfers differently, so giving can affect both the amount and the methodology. Bloomberg says its estimate accounts for transfers to Melinda French Gates. Its profile cited filings and tax records showing more than $8 billion in stocks transferred to her, and reported that a January 2026 update removed a further $12.5 billion Gates had agreed to give her for charitable work. Bloomberg
Gates’s planned giving is a separate matter from what he has already transferred. In 2025, he said he would donate virtually all of his remaining wealth—about US$200 billion—over the next two decades, and that the Gates Foundation would close at the end of 2045. The foundation describes that amount as intended support for its work over that period, not an independently audited estimate of Gates’s present personal net worth. Gates Foundation
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In an Associated Press interview published May 8, 2025, Gates said, “I have just a bit over $100 billion outside of the foundation.” That was his statement at that time; it is not a current market estimate and should not be compared with a later publisher estimate as though the dates and methods matched. The Associated Press
Foundation assets are not Gates’s personal net worth
Two large foundation figures can be mistaken for personal wealth, but neither should be added to Gates’s net-worth estimates:
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- $63.9 billion: the Gates Foundation’s reported cumulative giving by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates through 2025. It is their combined giving, not Gates’s current net worth.
- $92 billion: the Gates Foundation trust endowment as of June 30, 2026, reported as unaudited. It is an endowment held for the trust’s work, not Gates’s personal fortune.
Gates Foundation figures
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why published totals differ
When comparing billionaire rankings, check more than the headline number. The key differences are the snapshot date, how each publisher values private Cascade holdings, how it treats charitable transfers, and whether assets held by a foundation are excluded. A real-time estimate can also change with market prices, while an annual-list figure is tied to that list’s valuation date.
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