With 1,600 staff members directing $5 billion in annual grants to 135 countries around the globe, the Gates Foundation set a new standard for private philanthropy in the 21st century
Melinda Gates and Bill Gates. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Robin Hood
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation started with ambitions that, by its lofty standards today, appear almost quaint: providing free internet access to public libraries in the United States. As its founders’ objectives grew in scope, so did the foundation’s reach, until it achieved its current position as the preeminent private institution in global public health.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation building. Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images
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