2026-08-11
The Greatest Product Managers, No. 8: Bill Gates — He Wrote an End Date for His Own Organization: Close at the End of 2045, After Spending $200 Billion
On January 14, 2026, the Gates Foundation's board approved a $9 billion annual budget and confirmed the foundation will close permanently at the end of 2045. Before it does, it will spend another $200 billion — double what it spent in its first 25 years — while cutting about 500 roles over the next five years. Not because money is short. Because it has to finish on time. Writing an end date for your own organization is a rare move: nearly every organization's implicit goal is to survive. He ranks 8th on our board with an OVR of 95. Business 99 is the top bracket of the entire list; originality 94 is the lowest in the top ten. He was never the inventor. Fifty years ago he put other people's inventions on every desk; today he is distributing $200 billion against a deadline. He is also the only person in the top ten still writing on his own personal website.
