Bill Gates donates 4.6 billion USD, his highest since 2000

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Microsoft's founder and one of the world's richest men, Bill Gates has made his largest charity donation since 2000, of 4.6 billion US dollars, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a file released Monday from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the file, the donation was made on June 6 by the American billionaire to give approximately 5 percent of the shares he owned of Microsoft, though the recipient of the gift remains unknown in the filing.

Bill Gates and his wife Melinda. /AFP Photo

Bloomberg said the main donation object is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which set up by Gates and his wife Melinda to promote global development, reduce inequalities around the world, improve health care and alleviate extreme poverty.

As one of the biggest worldwide philanthropic donors, the couple are believed to have donated about 35 billion US dollars since 1994.

In 1999, Bill Gates endowed a unprecedented donation of 16 billion US dollars in aid to the world, followed by a 5.1 billion US dollar donation the next year.

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