WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The long-simmering feud between billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk intensified this week as Gates accused Musk of endangering the world's poorest populations by driving severe cuts to U.S. foreign aid.
In a pointed interview with the Financial Times, Gates said Musk's role in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development under the Trump administration had led to the collapse of critical global health and humanitarian programs.
Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and longtime philanthropist, denounced Musk's attacks on USAID as 'misguided and reckless,' citing canceled grants to hospitals in Africa and massive disruptions to food and medical supply chains.
The aid agency, which disbursed over $42 billion in 2023, has seen more than 80 percent of its programs slashed and most of its 10,000 staff eliminated under the so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency, led by Musk.
'The image of the world's richest man contributing to the deaths of the world's most vulnerable children is deeply troubling,' Gates said. He warned that these cuts could result in one million additional child deaths per year and resurgences of preventable diseases like malaria.
Gates's remarks come shortly after he announced plans to donate 99 percent of his wealth and wind down the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation by 2045. Despite his increased giving, Gates cautioned that philanthropy cannot replace the scale of government aid.
Musk, for his part, responded with a cryptic social media post referencing conspiracy theories about Gates, deflecting rather than addressing the criticism. The escalating clash underscores a broader debate over the role of wealth, governance, and moral responsibility in addressing global inequality.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
