Why Gates Foundation’s latest 13F filing left analysts asking ‘But WHY’ – The Times of India

Gates Foundation Trust executed one of its most dramatic portfolio shifts in recent history during the third quarter of 2025. The portfolio change was revealed in Gates Foundation’s latest 13F filing that left analysts wondering the reason behind the big move. The company drastically reduced its stake in Microsoft, the company that Bill Gates founded and the one in which he still holds good number of shares. Gates Foundation also cut stake in some other major Bluechip holdings, according to its latest 13F filing with the SEC. The quarter was defined by heavy divestment, resulting in the trust’s total portfolio value falling sharply from $47.78 billion at the end of Q2 to $36.58 billion as of September 30. The quarter was strictly a period of selling, as the foundation made no new purchases and did not increase any existing stakes. These moves reduced the total number of unique holdings in the portfolio from 25 to 23.The most significant action was the sale of 17 million shares of Microsoft. This move represented a massive 65% reduction in the trust’s position, cutting the holding from over 26.19 million shares to just 9.19 million. The divestment, which reaped $8.267 billion, is widely viewed by analysts as a strategic effort to rebalance a highly concentrated portfolio and generate liquidity for the foundation’s increasing philanthropic commitments.The move to reduce the anchor Microsoft position is seen as aligning with the trust’s long-standing goal of avoiding single-stock concentration and funding the foundation’s plan to significantly increase its annual charitable spending.

Full exits and portfolio cleanup

In addition to the dramatic Microsoft cut, the foundation trimmed several other top-tier investments. The substantial rebalancing changed the hierarchy of the trust’s major holdings, with Berkshire Hathaway, Waste Management, and Canadian National Railway emerging as the new top three. The value of the remaining CNR stake is now marginally higher than the reduced MSFT position.

Bill Gates calls to UN to ‘pivot’ from climate action to vaccines and poverty

Bill Gates recently called for the United Nations to make a “major strategic pivot” from a “doomsday view” of climate goals towards funding vaccines and alleviating poverty. The Microsoft founder defended the trade-off between tackling the long term rise in the global temperature versus the nearer term fatal consequences of the distribution of medicines in poor countries. It said that it was a pragmatic stance following dramatic cuts in aid by wealthy countries, led by America.