Mumbai: Even if Bill Gates decides to spend $1 million per day, it will take around 218 years to blow up his fortune, according to a report by Oxfam. The report that falls under the title 'Even it Up: Time to End Extreme Inequality' analyses economic inequality across the world. Oxfam even stated that just 85 people own as much wealth as the poorest half of humanity. Bill Gates is ranked as the second richest billionaire holding $79 billion.
Bill Gates also plans to donate over $500 million to fight malaria and other infectious diseases in the developing world, saying the Ebola outbreak is a call to action. The former Microsoft CEO mentioned to the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans that his Gates Foundation is committing more than $500 million in 2014 "to reduce the burden of malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and an array of parasitic infections that are leading causes of death and disability in developing countries," a statement said. His foundation has boosted its annual funding for malaria by 30 per cent.
Oxfam also added an appreciation that the decision of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to give away their fortunes can be considered as an example to the rest of the world's billionaires. Meanwhile, Business Insider has said that the number of billionaires in the world has shot up from 793 in March 2009 to 1,645 in March 2014.
