Gates Foundation takes up question of its own power

By THALIA BEATY
Associated Press

Does The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have too much power and influence? The foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman raised that question in an annual letter released Tuesday and when asked, said the answer was, “No.” With $8.3 billion to give away in 2023, the Gates Foundation is the largest private philanthropic donor. Suzman said the Seattle-based foundation takes its direction from the Sustainable Development Goals that are set by the United Nations and knows that with its great resources come great responsibility. Some researchers, though, disagree, arguing that the foundation’s spending power has allowed it to back interventions, for example in education in the US, that haven’t worked.