No one knows what the future holds for the Gates Foundation now that it’s announced it is sunsetting in 2045 — and in the process giving away an eye-popping $200 billion while they’re at it. But we got some firsthand insights into that future from Mark Suzman, the foundation’s CEO, during a one-on-one interview we had with him last week.
Among those insights: the three priority areas where the foundation is putting its efforts into; what it’s really like to partner with Bill Gates himself; what it can and can’t do in this current climate of aid cuts; and how the foundation responds to accusations that it’s too powerful and influential.
On the latter point, a frequent critique is that the foundation is too “Seattle-centric,” basing its headquarters in the U.S. even though its work takes place in dozens of countries in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere.