What Companies Does Bill Gates Own? | InsightsArtist | Infographic (2024)

What Companies Does Bill Gates Own?

Bill Gates is an American entrepreneur, the co-founder of Microsoft, an author, a philanthropist, and the fourth richest man in the world in 2021. He is also an investor; he invests in farmland and many companies. InsightsArtist has already featured his 269,000 acres of farmland in our previous infographic. In today’s infographic, we look into the stock portfolio of Bill Gates. In other words, what companies does Bill Gates own?

Bill Gates’ Portfolio as of 31 December 2021

According to GuruFocus, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust disclosed 22 holdings worth $22.97 billion as of 31 December 2021. Here is the disclosure:

Bill Gates Portfolio

Source: GuruFocus

The Foundation’s investment philosophy is explained as follows on its website:

As a foundation, our goal is to ensure that all people no matter where they live have the chance to live a healthy, productive life. We’re focused on using grantmaking and advocacy to help solve complex, entrenched problems that affect billions of people, including the AIDS and malaria epidemics, extreme poverty, and the poor state of American high schools.

Furthermore, Bill and Melinda guide the investment managers in proxy vote consistent with the principles of good governance and good management. They also consider other elements beyond profits, including the driving values for the foundation’s work.

Top 5 Holdings

1. BRK.B | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | 43.85%

Berkshire Hathaway Inc is a Nebraska-based multi-industry company. Starting off as a textile manufacturing company in the 19th Century, Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns a wide variety of businesses: insurance, investment, property, restaurants, utility, consumer goods, and many more. The current CEO Warren Buffett aged over 90 years old occasionally makes the headline for his investment activities.

The market capitalization of this company was just below $700 billion as of the end of 2021. Its stock made up 43.85% of Bill Gates’ portfolio, which was a 12.92% decrease from the previous year. Apparently, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are in good terms. They have partnered in philanthropy for 15 years, with Buffett being a trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. In June 2021, however, Buffett resigned as a trustee for unknown reasons.

2. WM | Waste Management Inc | 13.54%

This Texas-headquartered company offers environmental services as its name suggests to a wide range of customers in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It is also the largest residential recycler and a renewable energy provider in North America.

Waste Management’s market capitalization fell short of $60 billion. Bill owns 18.6 million shares of Waste Management Inc worth $3.1 billion, equivalent to about 4.4% of the company’s stock. And this investment makes up 13.54% of Bill’s portfolio as of 31 December 2021.

One of the goals for which Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust works is Global Growth and Opportunity. In particular, this division’s pillars include Water, Sanitation & Hygiene. The environmental initiatives that Waste Management takes must have tied in with Bill’s leadership on sustainability.

3. CAT | Caterpillar Inc | 8.72%

Caterpillar Inc is the world’s largest construction-equipment manufacturer with the headquarter in Illinois. It not only manufactures and sells heavy equipment and engines, but also offers financial products and insurance worldwide. Caterpillar’s excavators pained in murky yellow and black make appearance everywhere in construction sites across the globe.

Its market capitalization hit $100 billion for the first time in its history in January 2021. Caterpillar Inc announced a 22% growth in full year sales for 2021 compared with 2020, from $41.7 billion to $51.0 billion.

Bill’s holdings at the end of 2021 were 9.7 million shares worth over $2 billion. As a result, this accounted for 8.72% of Bill’s portfolio.

4. CNI | Canadian National Railway Co | 6.99%

Canadian National Railway Co is one of the four transportation companies that Bill invests in. The others are United Parcel Service Inc (2.13%), FedEx Corp (1.68%), and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (0.78%).

It is the largest railway in Canada for its revenue and network. Canadian National Railway Co started operation in 1919 as a government-owned company, when several other railways went bankrupt and fell into the Canadian Government’s hands. Then it was finally privatized in 1995. The company had a market capitalization close to $90 billion at the end of 2021.

Bill holds 13 million CNI shares valued at $1.6 billion. And the share represented 6.99% of his portfolio.

5. ECL | Ecolab Inc | 4.46%

Ecolab Inc is an American company founded in 1923 in Minnesota. It develops and offers services, technology, and systems for water treatment, hygiene, and infection prevention. The company closed the year 2021 with a market cap slightly exceeding $67 billion.

This company also fits right in Bill’s sustainability initiatives—water purification and sanitization. His holdings kept increasing since he initially bought its shares in 2011. Today, he owns 4.37 million shares worth over $1 billion. This accounts for 4.46% of Bill’s portfolio and 1.5% of Ecolab’s shares.

Despite Bill’s interest in this global leader in water treatment and hygiene, ECL was one of the most underperforming stocks in the Foundation’s portfolio. The stock’s year-to-date change for 2021 was -23.96%, slightly better than that of ONON (On Holding AG) with -29.81%.

Summing up: Bill Gates’ Portfolio in 2021

So, let’s sum up the answer to “What companies does Bill Gates own as of 2021?” He owns a total of 22 holdings, with a total wealth of approximately $23 billion. He gained two new stocks, which were Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP) and Sanderson Farms Inc (SAFM). Of the 22 holdings, there were three stocks that Bill Gates sold in 2021: Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), and Grupo Televisa SAB (TV). However, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B) kept its position as the largest investment in Bill’s portfolio.