Gates Fund’s Newest Title: World’s Richest

Bill and Melinda Gates have put another $5-billion into their foundation,

making it the wealthiest philanthropy in the world.

With an endowment of $21.8-billion, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Seattle, is now worth slightly more than London’s Wellcome Trust. The Wellcome Trust has assets of £13 billion, or about $21-billion at last week’s exchange rates.

The Gateses’ foundation became the wealthiest U.S. philanthropy in August, when Mr. Gates and his wife gave it $6-billion. At the time, the Gates foundation was worth $17.1-billion (The Chronicle, August 26).

Last year, the couple made three multibillion-dollar gifts to their foundation. Officials of the foundation say the couple expects to continue giving such big donations regularly.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation makes grants to help needy people around the world gain access to advances in education, health care, and technology. It also supports a wide variety of causes in the Pacific Northwest.

As it has grown into a multibillion-dollar philanthropy this year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced several large-scale programs.

In November, the foundation announced that it would give $750-million over five years to the Global Fund for Children’s Vaccines to help purchase vaccines and improve immunization services in the poorest countries in the world. And in September, the foundation announced that it would dedicate $1-billion to the Gates Millennium Scholars, a 20-year program to give scholarships to minority students in severe financial need.