The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is spending millions in China, a fraction of its total funding

Since 2002, the Gates Foundation has spent US$377.6mil in China across 271 grants largely focusing on preventing disease, including Covid-19. The billionaires’ divorce appears amicable and is unlikely to impact their charity in the short term. — SCMP

On May 3, Bill and Melinda Gates, one of the world’s richest couples, shocked the world with the announcement that their 27-year marriage was coming to an end, raising questions about the impact on the couple’s philanthropy, which has seen hundreds of millions of dollars poured into China over the last couple of decades.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the world’s richest non-profit organisations with 1,600 employees globally. It is known for its work in areas of public health, education and climate change. There are currently no planned changes for the foundation and the couple will remain co-chairs, the organisation said in a statement.