The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust invested in Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Alibaba, and Twitter last quarter.
The investment arm of the world's largest private foundation revealed the new tech bets, valued north of $450 million in total, in a recent financial filing.
The trust also trimmed its biggest holding, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, likely to finance the foundation's efforts to combat coronavirus.
The coronavirus sell-off fueled a 19% drop in the value of its portfolio to about $17.4 billion.
The trust, which manages the assets of the world's largest private foundation, revealed new positions in Apple, Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet, Alibaba, and Twitter. Its stakes in the first four were valued between $100 million and $130 million each on March 31, while its Twitter holdings were worth about $7 million.
The trust also revealed a $301 million stake in Schrodinger following the drug-discovery software group's public debut in February. The only other change to its portfolio was the sale of five million Berkshire Hathaway shares, representing 10% of its stake in Warren Buffett's conglomerate.
The cut to its biggest holding is no surprise: Buffett is a close friend of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, and gifts shares to their foundation each year to help finance its philanthropy.
The trust's flurry of purchases did little to soften the blow from the coronavirus sell-off. Its portfolio shrunk in value by 19% to about $17.4 billion, as FedEx, UPS, Liberty Global, Walmart, and other holdings suffered share-price declines.
Gates has emerged as a leading commentator on the COVID-19 outbreak due to his deep experience in fighting diseases and vaccinating populations, and his warning of a pandemic back in 2015.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust invested in Apple, Amazon, Alphabet
Alphabet
Alphabet is the world's second-largest technology company by revenue and one of the world's most valuable companies. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries.
, Alibaba, and Twitter last quarter. The investment arm of the world's largest private foundation revealed the new tech bets, valued north of $450 million in total, in a recent financial filing.
We invest in life sciences and agriculture innovation across the United States and Europe; education and economic-opportunity development in the U.S.; and scaling tech-enabled innovations across healthcare, agriculture, financial services, and women's innovation throughout South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Actual Assets Under Management (AUM) is this value plus cash (which is not disclosed). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust's top holdings are Microsoft Corporation (US:MSFT) , Waste Management, Inc.(US:WM) , Berkshire Hathaway Inc.(US:BRK.B) , Canadian National Railway Company (US:CNI) , and Caterpillar Inc.
Buffett has given about $43 billion to the Gates foundation since 2006. The Gates foundation in the past year has sold about a quarter of the stock each quarter that Buffett donated in June 2023, a gift of more than 10 million Berkshire Class B shares.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's investment in Deere & Co. might seem small as it only represents 3.8% of the portfolio, however, the foundation is the largest individual shareholder owning 3.92 million shares valued at $1.53 billion.
The foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees. The trust holds the donated investment assets from Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and receives contributions from Warren Buffett.
Since its founding, the foundation has endowed and supported a broad range of social, health, and education developments, including the establishment of the Gates Cambridge Scholarships at Cambridge University.
Since 1994, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have contributed $39 billion to the foundation. Since 2000, the foundation has spent $79.2 billion. Tom Tierney, board member, said, “Philanthropy is driving unprecedented impact on issues ranging from global health to gender equality to social justice.
Buffett worked with Christopher Webber on an animated series called "Secret Millionaires Club" with chief Andy Heyward of DiC Entertainment. The series features Buffett and Munger and teaches children healthy financial habits. Buffett was raised as a Presbyterian, but has since described himself as agnostic.
Buffett is now worth only a few billion dollars less than Ellison — Oracle's chairman and a major Tesla investor — at $126 billion, and Gates — Microsoft's cofounder and one of Buffett's close friends — at $129 billion.
That's 1.02% of their equity portfolio (10th largest holding). The first Fedex trade was made in Q2 2005. Since then Bill Gates bought shares nine more times and sold shares on three occasions. The stake costed the investor $182 Million, netting the investor a gain of 159% so far.
Apart from his Porsche collection, Gates has been seen driving a variety of other luxury cars. He has been spotted driving a Mercedes S Class, a Mercedes 500SL, and a BMW 7 series.
Institutional investors are the majority owners of Microsoft, accounting for almost 70% of outstanding shares. Former CEO Steve Ballmer owns a 4% stake in Microsoft, more than its founder Bill Gates, who holds a 1.3% stake. Vanguard and Blackrock are the two largest Microsoft's institutional investors.
We provide funding to organizations to achieve measurable impact in the fight against poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. This is our largest funding vehicle, accounting for over 90% of our charitable giving.
The foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees. The trust holds the donated investment assets from Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and receives contributions from Warren Buffett.
Bill and Melinda are the trustees for the Foundation Trust, and the endowment is managed, as it has been for almost three decades, by Cascade Management Company.
The Gates Foundation Trust owns billions in Berkshire Hathaway stock. Right now, the largest stock position in the $46 billion trust's publicly disclosed portfolio is Microsoft. Gates co-founded Microsoft back in 1975 and in 2010 he committed to donating his entire stake in Microsoft to charity by the time he died.
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