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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust

Organization summary

Type of Nonprofit

Designated as a Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn’t provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Category: Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations / Private Grantmaking Foundations (NTEE)

Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

Summary charts: organization finances over time

Revenue
$28.6B (2022)

Expenses
$7.05B (2022)

Total Assets
$68B (2022)

Total Liabilities
$642M (2022)

Years with missing data
Source: Form 990 tax filings from 2011 to 2022

Tax Filings by Year

Form 990 is an information return that most organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly with the IRS. Nonprofit Explorer has IRS digitized Form 990 data for filings processed in 2012 and later. If this organization filed an amended return, it may not be reflected below. Duplicate download links may indicate a resubmission or amendment to this organization's original return. Form 990 data is from the IRS.

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2022

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$28,564,317,333
Expenses
$7,047,093,548
Net Income
$21,517,223,785
Net Assets
$67,331,210,137
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $23,221,054,512
81.3%
Interest Revenue $13,436,826
0.0%
Dividends $867,102,305
3.0%
Sales of Assets $3,230,287,531
11.3%
Other Income $1,232,436,159
4.3%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $6,126,232,500
86.9%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $67,972,986,359
Total Liabilities $641,776,222
Net Assets $67,331,210,137
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Other
William H Gates Iii (Trustee And Ceo) $0 $0
Melinda French Gates (Trustee) $0 $0
Carolyn Ainslie (Chief Financial Officer) $0 $0
Keith Traverse (Secretary) $0 $0
Connie Collingsworth (Assistant Secretary) $0 $0

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2021

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$9,580,009,055
Expenses
$6,370,047,475
Net Income
$3,209,961,580
Net Assets
$53,258,064,190
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $5,415,183,628
56.5%
Interest Revenue $150,411
0.0%
Dividends $658,049,307
6.9%
Sales of Assets $3,369,272,759
35.2%
Other Income $137,352,950
1.4%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $5,518,530,064
86.6%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $53,927,171,316
Total Liabilities $669,107,126
Net Assets $53,258,064,190
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Other
William H Gates Iii (Trustee And Ceo) $0 $0
Melinda French Gates (Trustee) $0 $0
Carolyn Ainslie (Chief Financial Officer) $0 $0
Keith Traverse (Secretary) $0 $0
Connie Collingsworth (Assistant Secretary (Start 4/1/2021)) $0 $0

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2020

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$2,838,568,795
Expenses
$7,015,940,289
Net Income
-$4,177,371,494
Net Assets
$49,943,873,139
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $2,369,850,953
83.5%
Interest Revenue $1,975,687
0.1%
Dividends $689,812,897
24.3%
Sales of Assets $0
Other Income $12,529,816
0.4%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $5,849,455,732
83.4%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $50,996,163,488
Total Liabilities $1,052,290,349
Net Assets $49,943,873,139
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Other
William H Gates Iii (Trustee And Ceo) $0 $0
Melinda French Gates (Trustee) $0 $0
Carolyn Ainslie (Chief Financial Officer) $0 $0
Keith Traverse (Secretary) $0 $0
Michael Larson End 12312020 (Llc Manager) $0 $0

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2019

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$6,415,146,908
Expenses
$6,094,354,950
Net Income
$320,791,958
Net Assets
$49,765,872,007
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $3,332,420,799
51.9%
Interest Revenue $32,898,529
0.5%
Dividends $826,236,150
12.9%
Sales of Assets $2,014,077,129
31.4%
Other Income $209,514,301
3.3%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $5,237,250,201
85.9%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $49,941,602,761
Total Liabilities $175,730,754
Net Assets $49,765,872,007

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2018

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2017

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2016

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2015

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$5,359,548,995
Expenses
$4,766,292,773
Net Income
$593,256,222
Net Assets
$39,514,533,935
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $2,424,749,660
45.2%
Interest Revenue $394,735
0.0%
Dividends $538,164,141
10.0%
Sales of Assets $1,892,599,134
35.3%
Other Income $503,641,325
9.4%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $2,350,000,137
49.3%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $39,566,720,264
Total Liabilities $52,186,329
Net Assets $39,514,533,935

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2014

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$6,982,402,574
Expenses
$4,523,547,821
Net Income
$2,458,854,753
Net Assets
$43,440,032,466
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $4,057,469,408
58.1%
Interest Revenue $218,754
0.0%
Dividends $626,403,886
9.0%
Sales of Assets $2,315,538,672
33.2%
Other Income -$17,228,146
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $2,283,500,137
50.5%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $43,559,551,856
Total Liabilities $119,519,390
Net Assets $43,440,032,466

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2013

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$4,926,873,517
Expenses
$4,253,158,285
Net Income
$673,715,232
Net Assets
$40,472,653,770
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $2,195,434,778
44.6%
Interest Revenue $839,282
0.0%
Dividends $581,176,348
11.8%
Sales of Assets $1,740,803,641
35.3%
Other Income $408,619,468
8.3%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $2,158,000,115
50.7%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $40,563,753,476
Total Liabilities $91,099,706
Net Assets $40,472,653,770

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2012

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$3,749,946,427
Expenses
$4,010,227,516
Net Income
-$260,281,089
Net Assets
$36,371,336,350
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $1,983,338,725
52.9%
Interest Revenue $1,355,568
0.0%
Dividends $597,504,250
15.9%
Sales of Assets $1,144,123,923
30.5%
Other Income $23,623,961
0.6%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $1,917,000,115
47.8%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $36,444,210,791
Total Liabilities $72,874,441
Net Assets $36,371,336,350

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2011

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF
Revenue
$3,188,146,946
Expenses
$4,040,264,980
Net Income
-$852,118,034
Net Assets
$33,778,996,347
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received $1,565,217,861
49.1%
Interest Revenue $1,469,079
0.0%
Dividends $641,483,902
20.1%
Sales of Assets $922,394,617
28.9%
Other Income $57,581,487
1.8%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements $1,970,000,115
48.8%
Compensation of Officers* $0
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $33,821,487,443
Total Liabilities $42,491,096
Net Assets $33,778,996,347

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2010

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2009

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2008

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2007

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2006

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2005

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2002

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2001

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

About This Data

Nonprofit Explorer includes summary data for nonprofit tax returns and full Form 990 documents, in both PDF and digital formats.

The summary data contains information processed by the IRS during the 2012-2019 calendar years; this generally consists of filings for the 2011-2018 fiscal years, but may include older records. This data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s.

In addition to the raw summary data, we link to PDFs and digital copies of full Form 990 documents wherever possible. This consists of separate releases by the IRS of Form 990 documents processed by the agency, which we update regularly.

We also link to copies of audits nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year since 2016. These audits are copied from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Which Organizations Are Here?

Every organization that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS has to file Form 990 every year, unless they make less than $200,000 in revenue and have less than $500,000 in assets, in which case they have to file form 990-EZ. Organizations making less than $50,000 don’t have to file either form but do have to let the IRS they’re still in business via a Form 990N "e-Postcard."

Nonprofit Explorer has organizations claiming tax exemption in each of the 27 subsections of the 501(c) section of the tax code, and which have filed a Form 990, Form 990EZ or Form 990PF. Taxable trusts and private foundations that are required to file a form 990PF are also included. Small organizations filing a Form 990N "e-Postcard" are not included in this data.

Types of Nonprofits

There are 27 nonprofit designations based on the numbered subsections of section 501(c) of the tax code. See the list »

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  • Audits. PDFs of single or program-specific audits for nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year. Available for fiscal year 2015 and later.

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