Bill Gates has earned global fame as the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), a key player in the personal computer revolution — but beyond paving the way for the digital world of today, he’s also a shrewd investor who prefers to keep his capital mobilized.
Together with his now ex-wife, Melinda, the billionaire founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation back in 2000. At present, the foundation is the third-biggest charity in the world — and its funds come from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which has a long history of investing in stable, dividend-paying businesses that still have solid growth prospects.
With that being said, the portfolio does get shaken up a bit here and then. Most recently, Gates sold $200 million worth of Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) stock. However, one thing has remained consistent over the years — the foundation’s portfolio is quite concentrated, with 4 of the top holdings accounting for 80% of the overall value, per its latest Form 4 filing.
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Let’s take a closer look at how Gates’ top holdings performed over the course of 2024, using a $1,000 investment made at the beginning of the year to illustrate.
The Gates Foundation secured average returns in 2024
The foundation’s biggest holdings are, in order: Microsoft at 28%, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) at 23%, Waste Management (NYSE: WM), which accounts for 15% of the portfolio, and Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI), which represents 14%.
On January 1, 2024, the price of Microsoft stock was $370.87 — by press time on January 10, 2025, MSFT stock was changing hands at a price of $422.67, equating to a 13.96% gain.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway saw a 24.21% gain in the same period — while Waste Management stock provided a 14.86% return since January 1, 2024. Lastly, CNI stock is the only entry on the list that was in the red — having marked an 18.26% loss.
Accordingly, a $1,000 investment split equally between these 4 stocks would have netted an 8.69% return — the investment would have been worth a total of $1,086 now.
While the return is far from impressive, it is relatively in line with the long-term average returns of the S&P 500 — and readers should note that stability and dividends are priorities for the Gates Foundation — whereas capital appreciation is an important, but still secondary, concern.
Finally, investors should remember that this is a simplified overview of Gates’ largest holdings, used as an illustrative shorthand — his portfolio contains 24 stocks, and as the public is not privy to the exact prices at which his purchases took place, calculating exact returns is not possible.
Featured image via Shutterstock
