Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Stock Investments: A Closer Look at the $42 Billion Portfolio

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a U.S.-based private foundation, boasts an impressive financial endowment of roughly $69 billion. Established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his former spouse, Melinda French Gates, the foundation had received donations from the duo amounting to about $36 billion as of 2018, as stated in its FAQ.

Remarkably, the foundation’s investments in the stock market stand at a staggering $42 billion, as revealed by the anonymous Dividendology account (@dividendology, 22,200 followers) on X (previously known as Twitter). A substantial 90.55% of this sum is committed to these six major companies:

• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): 31.79% of the $42 billion, totaling $13.37 billion.
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B): 20.38%, equivalent to $8.57 billion.
• Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE: CNI): 15.78%, amounting to $6.64 billion.
• Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM): 14.53%, which is $6.11 billion.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): 4.30%, or $1.81 billion.
• Deere & Company (NYSE: DE): 3.77%, totaling $1.59 billion.

In addition to these, the foundation’s portfolio encompasses 17 other stocks, bringing the count to 23 different companies. Among these, Ecolab Inc (NYSE: ECL), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KOF), and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) each have an allocation surpassing 1% from the foundation’s investments.