Bill Gates is still in wealth-creation mode.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re not, you know, in some defensive posture where we\u2019re mostly in cash, or anything like that,” the Microsoft Corp. founder said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strategy that\u2019s been used on the investments is to be over 60% in equities.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s helped Gates add $17 billion to his net worth this year, taking his wealth to $106 billion, behind only Jeff Bezos on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, even as his charitable donations have topped $35 billion.<\/p>\n
The Gates fortune had about $60 billion of equity assets as of Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
By comparison, the average family office portfolio in North America held about 32% of its assets in equities in 2018, according to Campden Wealth\u2019s 2018 global family office report.<\/p>\n
The growth overseen by the billionaire\u2019s investment chief, Michael Larson, who oversees family office Cascade Investment, has enabled Gates to build the world\u2019s largest private foundation without diminishing his fortune.<\/p>\n
That may start to shrink if politicians heed his call for higher taxes.<\/p>\n
“I doubt, you know, the US will do a wealth tax but I wouldn\u2019t be against it,” he said in the interview.<\/p>\n
“The closest thing we have to it is the estate tax. And I\u2019ve been a huge proponent that that should go back to the level of 55% that it was a few decades ago.”<\/p>\n
Inequality has become an explosive political issue with America\u2019s richest 0.1% controlling more wealth than at any time since 1929.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released its annual Goalkeepers report.<\/p>\n
The study seeks to monitor and aid the progress of the United Nations in achieving in its Sustainable Development Goals, which the foundation says are being hindered by persistent inequality.<\/p>\n
The report called for greater investment in health care, education and technology to help reduce inequality worldwide.<\/p>\n
Gates, 63, also backed higher income taxes on America\u2019s wealthiest people and made a call for greater transparency. “I\u2019m for way more financial transparency. I don\u2019t like that you can have trusts where nobody knows who owns it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Gates remains bullish on the U.S. and global economy, he doubted that the performance he\u2019s enjoyed over the past was likely to endure.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s reasons to think absolute returns for the next decade will be less than they have been for the last several decades.”<\/p>\n