In 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began as the William H. Gates Foundation established in 1994, with an initial stock gift of $94 million. In 1999, the foundation was renamed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and in 2000 merged with the Gates Learning Foundation and received an additional $126 million.

Today, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with offices in Washington, D.C.; Beijing, China; and Delhi, India is the largest private foundation in the world.