In this news:
Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, are America’s second-biggest philanthropists after Warren Buffet and his family. But how rich would they be if they’d never given away a dime?
Forbes calculated that they’d be worth $1.5 trillion combined. Melinda would be worth an estimated $300 billion, and Bill would likely be the world’s first trillionaire, more than triple the net worth of the current richest individual in the world, Elon Musk. Bill Gates recently criticized Musk and the Trump Administration’s cuts to foreign aid programs, telling Forbes that HIV infections and deaths are increasing for the first time in this century as a result.
But while Bill and Melinda may not be quite as wealthy as Musk, Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg, the estimated $47.7 billion the pair have donated to the Gates Foundation have gone a long way towards global poverty and health initiatives.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a news conference in Geneva on May 12, 2025.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. and China on Monday announced they would significantly cut back tariffs placed on each other’s goods for at least 90 days as both sides plan to continue negotiations on a trade deal. The total U.S. levy on Chinese goods will drop from 145% to 30%, and the move triggered a surge in U.S. stock futures and global markets.
MORE: Even as the Trump Administration negotiates with more countries, the president intends to keep a baseline 10% tariff in place on all imported goods, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday. Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs charged different rates based on the U.S.’ trade imbalances with each country—a method many economists criticized as “incredibly stupid.”
.png)
