Gates Foundation sets record $9 billion budget, plans up to 500 job cuts by 2030

The Gates Foundation approved a record $9 billion budget for 2026 and a plan to reduce its workforce by up to 500 positions by 2030, foundation CEO Mark Suzman announced Wednesday. The board simultaneously capped annual operating costs at $1.25 billion — approximately 14 percent of total spending — to ensure more dollars reach grantees as the organization accelerates toward its planned 2045 closure. The foundation currently employs 2,375 people.

The moves mark a significant structural shift for one of the world’s largest private philanthropic organizations as cuts to U.S. humanitarian aid under the Trump administration have deepened demand for private funding in global health and poverty reduction.

Record budget, trimmed overhead

The 2026 budget tops last year’s $8.74 billion, the prior high, and will fund increased spending in women’s health, vaccine development, polio eradication, artificial intelligence, and U.S. education, Suzman said.

The operating-cost cap covers staff salaries, infrastructure, facilities, and travel. Without a spending limit, foundation overhead — currently running at around 13 percent of its budget — was projected to approach 18 percent by the end of the decade, Suzman said. The board determined the cap was necessary to keep a greater share of the foundation’s resources flowing to the people it serves, he said.

Staged, not sudden, staff reductions

The workforce reduction will be carried out incrementally over five years and reviewed annually rather than executed in a single wave, Suzman told the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

“We will do this thoughtfully, carefully, and systematically,” he said. “We’ll be recalibrating it every year. That 500-person target is a maximum target. I very much hope that we won’t have to do it as large as that number.”

Some of the positions counted toward the 500 reduction are open roles that may simply remain unfilled, Suzman said. Staff on HIV and tuberculosis teams at the foundation’s Seattle headquarters will also be reduced as that work shifts largely to offices in Africa.

Filling a gap left by federal cuts

The spending increase comes as the foundation’s core areas of work have come under pressure from humanitarian aid reductions by the United States and other countries. In a recent blog post, Bill Gates wrote that the “world went backwards” last year in child mortality, with global child deaths rising for the first time this century — from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025.

“The next five years will be difficult as we try to get back on track and work to scale up new lifesaving tools,” Gates wrote. “Yet I remain optimistic about the long-term future.”

Suzman said the foundation expects to accelerate spending over the next two decades in three priority areas: maternal and child health, infectious disease prevention, and poverty reduction. Some individual grants will grow in size over time, though not uniformly across all programs, he said.

Expanding footprint and AI portfolio

The foundation also announced the creation of a new Africa and India Offices Division, formalizing an expansion of its presence on both continents.

On artificial intelligence, Gates cautioned in a recent post that the technology could disrupt labor markets and be misused by “bad actors” if insufficient attention is paid to how it is developed, governed, and deployed. At the same time, the foundation has championed AI adoption for public services. The foundation was part of a coalition that in July pledged $1 billion in grants and investments to develop AI tools for public defenders, social workers, and other frontline workers in the United States over 15 years. AI remains among the portfolio areas the foundation expects to expand, Suzman said.

Planning an unprecedented wind-down

The foundation announced last year it would close in 2045 after committing approximately $200 billion over 20 years — a plan Gates framed as part of his effort to give away the bulk of his wealth. It is the world’s largest foundation to set a closure date.

Elizabeth Dale, acting executive director and Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University’s philanthropy center, said the foundation’s scale makes its planned sunset without precedent.

“My sense is that they spent the last year really trying to home in on their priorities and their strategy,” she said.

Suzman said the foundation’s remaining two decades represent an opportunity rather than a countdown.

“We are moving into what I believe is going to be the most impactful period of the Gates Foundation in its history,” he said. “We’ve learned a huge amount over the last quarter century. We’ve built expertise, credibility, and partnerships. We now have a set of goals that are allowing us to focus with greater intentionality.”