What does billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates spend his fortune on?
From his luxury car collection to charity donations, how does Bill Gates, the world-famous billionaire businessman and philanthropist, spend his $153 billion fortune?
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (68) has an estimated fortune of 153 billion dollars. Gates has said that one day he will donate almost all of his fortune to charity. But for now, he is enjoying some of his luxuries, from his car collection to his vast real estate portfolio.
Bill Gates may be the fifth richest person in the world, but he doesn't plan to stay that way forever. The billionaire said he will “move down the list of the richest people in the world and eventually off it” in 2022 because he plans to give “almost” all of his money to charity.
Gates' fortune of $153 billion makes him one of the few emperors to reach center billionaire status, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
Gates has made some generous purchases over the years: He owns an estate in Washington worth $183.5 million, a private plane and a collection of luxury cars. But these are only a fraction of his enormous fortune, and the billionaire entrepreneur is not thought to be throwing his money around.
Here are the details of how Gates spent his fortune...
HE WAS TEMPTED BY THE PRIVATE PLANE
Gates invested in a variety of stocks and assets and, along with 20 others, founded a $1 billion investment fund called Breakthrough Energy.
Despite his enormous wealth, he has previously told Ellen DeGeneres that when he became a billionaire at the age of 31 (at the time he was the youngest billionaire in history), he didn't go on a spending spree.
But over time, he said, he indulged in luxuries like a private airplane. Gates reportedly owns the Bombardier BD-19 Global Express, which can seat up to 700 people.
Gates also spent a lot of money on his Xanadu 2.0 estate in Medina, Washington. It reportedly took seven years and $63 million to build.
Gates owns at least 12 parcels of land totaling about 10.5 acres, purchased between 1988 and 2009 for about $34 million. In total, the total estimated value of the mansion and parcels is roughly $183.5 million.
In 2023, property taxes on Gates' Medina properties totaled $1.3 million.
Gates reportedly paid to import sand from St. Lucia in the Caribbean to the shore surrounding his home.
There is also a 2,100 square meter library that houses a 16th century Leonardo da Vinci manuscript that Gates bought at auction in 1994 for $30 million.
There are reportedly some screens on the walls of Gate's home that can show different paintings or photographs. But there are also real paintings on the wall, such as Winslow Homer's painting of Gates, which he bought in 1988 for $36 million.
A PASSIONATE LUXURY CAR COLLECTOR
He told DeGeneres that his first big purchase after founding Microsoft was a Porsche 911 supercar. He bought the car in 1979. He later sold it and it was sold at auction for $80,000. 
But this was not Gates' last Porsche; he also added a Porsche 959 to his car collection.
Apart from his home in Washington, Gates also owns a 20-acre estate in Wellington, Florida. The property has at least two mansions, one 6,668 square meters and the other 5,716 square meters. He bought the properties for about 35 million dollars over three years.
His daughter Jennifer Gates Nassar is an accomplished equestrian and bought the property to support her passion. It serves as the home base for her equestrian facilities and the area is a popular spot for many other wealthy equestrians.
Gates also owns the 228-acre Rancho Paseana in California, which he bought for $18 million. When he bought it, the property included a racetrack, olive grove and five stables.
According to The Land Report, Gates is one of the largest private landowners in the country, with more than 250,000 acres, much of it farmland.
ALSO GOES ON LUXURY VACATIONS
While Gates said in 2019 that he “didn't believe” in taking weekends or vacations for most of his time at Microsoft, he did take some luxury trips.
In 2014, he treated his family to a Mediterranean vacation on the 439-foot superyacht Serene, which he chartered for $5 million a week. He has also traveled to Australia, Croatia, Belize and the Amazon in Brazil.
He has previously said that he likes to play tennis and ski. He was also seen watching tennis matches.
KNOWN FOR HIS PHILANTHROPY
With his donation, Gates helped found Amyris in 2003, a synthetic biology company that initially produced the precursors to malaria drugs and hydrocarbon-based biofuel, but also used the technology for things like fragrances, skin care and flavorings. 
In November 2017, Gates invested $50 million in Alzheimer's research. He continued these efforts in 2018 when he and a group of investors invested $30 million in the Diagnostics Accelerator, a “venture philanthropy” fund to diagnose Alzheimer's earlier.
Gates is frequently ranked among the most generous philanthropists in the US by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Gates and his ex-wife have donated nearly $2 billion to defeat malaria, more than $50 million to fight Ebola, and $38 million to a Japanese pharmaceutical company working to develop a low-cost polio vaccine.
During the pandemic, their foundation announced a 5-year, $1.6 billion commitment to distribute vaccines to the world's poorest countries.
The Gates Foundation also donates to education through its $1.6 billion initiative, the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.
HIS LEGACY WILL BE VERY SMALL
When it comes to the future of his fortune, Gates said he would leave each of his children $10 million, a fraction of his net worth.
In July 2022, he reiterated that he plans to give almost his entire fortune to himself and French Gates' organization, noting that he will eventually fall off the list of the world's richest figures.
