Melinda France Gates transformed her relatively young critical philanthropic foundation into one of the largest private foundations in the United States almost overnight, fueled in part by her split from ex-husband Bill Gates.
As part of the two’s divorce announcement in 2021, Gates agreed to donate $7.88 billion to Gates’ private foundation in France, the largest donation in history, the tax office previously reported. New York Times DealBook.
Under Gates’ gift, Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation’s assets will grow more than 1,000% to approximately $7.4 billion by 2024 tax return. This is up from $604 million at the end of 2023.
Just over a year after Gates and France Gates split their philanthropic efforts in May 2024, France Gate’s Pivotal Philanthropies has now joined the ranks of power players in the philanthropic world. Mackenzie Scott is one of these power figures who donated $7.2 billion Available to organizations through 2025 only. Scott has donated $26 billion since 2020just when she and Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos.
The billions Gates is donating to Pivotal are part of a previously pledged $12.5 billion, which French Gates said will be disbursed due to her “agreement with Bill.” A spokesperson for Pivotal Philanthropies confirmed that the funds have been fully disbursed, with Gates’ donation accounting for some of the funding. wealth.
After resigning as co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (now the Gates Foundation) in May 2024, French Gates said the $12.5 billion would be used to “Represent women and families”. According to data previously released by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, French Gates’ net worth is $17.7 billion. wealth A billionaire like her”Owe society something.“
It’s unclear where the additional $4.6 billion is being allocated. The funds allegedly could have been given to France’s Gates’ limited liability company Pivotal, but the company did not file tax returns trading book.
Pivotal said the Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation was established in 2022 to “accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people.” It is a group of organizations that also includes the Pivotal Initiatives Fund, which is responsible for policy and advocacy work, and Pivotal Ventures, which focuses on direct investments and partnerships. website. While Pivotal Philanthropies is subject to strict 501(c)(3) rules that impose minimum payouts, self-dealing limits, and detailed reporting requirements, as an LLC, Pivotal Ventures operates without strict reporting constraints, giving it more freedom, flexibility, and anonymity than a nonprofit organization.
Durham-based nonprofit is among organizations benefiting from previous donations from Pivotal Philanthropies rewrite codewhich provides support for young women working in or hoping to enter the tech industry. The organization, now in its tenth year, received $5 million from Pivotal Philanthropies in 2025, according to founder Sue Harnett.
Harnett’s organization has grown from one employee in 2019 to 26 this year, thanks in part to funding from Pivotal. By 2026, the company wants to focus on helping computer science students and women early in their tech careers get trained for a world where artificial intelligence is everywhere.
Harnett said Pivotal’s funding helps continue these programs and, more importantly, keeps them free to women who need them.
“It’s transformative,” Harnett told wealth. “It allows us to serve thousands of women more than ever before. It allows us to build a workforce with the diverse talents that we really need in order to be able to serve the women in our membership as best as possible.”