Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates has announced plans to give away “virtually all” of his estimated $200 billion fortune in 20 years.

The 69-year-old billionaire said he wants to distribute his wealth before closing the Gates Foundation that he created with his ex-wife, Melinda, on December 31, 2045.

The billionaire businessman and philanthropist said it’s a decision he did not take lightly, explaining in a letter posted online Thursday that he was inspired by a famous quote from Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 essay “The Gospel of Wealth,” which argued “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” 

Gates said his net worth, which is currently $108 billion, will drop 99% over the next two

“By deciding to spend all this money in the next 20 years, we can get a lot more done,” Gates said in an interview taped last week, days before he announced the initiative. He’s confident the money will save “tens of millions of lives.”

It’s a decision Gates did not take lightly, explaining in a letter posted online Thursday that he was inspired by a famous quote from Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 essay “The Gospel of Wealth,” which argued “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” 

Gates said his net worth, which is currently $108 billion, will drop 99% over the next two decades.

“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them. There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people,” Gates wrote. 

The Gates Foundation, which is marking its 25th anniversary this year, has already spent $100 billion to help cut the global childhood mortality rate by investing in medical innovations. Gates said he’s seen firsthand how impactful the distribution of vaccines for illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia can be. That’s why he’s determined to “double down.” 

He has three main goals: stopping the deaths of mothers and children from preventable causes, eradicating deadly infectious diseases, and putting more countries on a path to prosperity — with a focus on improving education.