Would Bill Gates pick up $100 off the ground? The billionaire finally settles the age-old debate

Gates addressed the strange question during a rare ask me anything session on Reddit.

PUBLISHED OCT 27, 2024

Bill Gates discusses his new book 'How To Prevent The Next Pandemic' | (Cover image source: Michael Loccisano | Getty Images)

An average person on the streets would be elated to spot a $100 bill lying on the ground, although authorities have recently warned people against touching such abandoned currecy notes. But what if something like that happened to a person who is worth billions of dollars and even has plans to give away most of it?

This burning question was answered by co-founder of Microsoft and the tech giant's former CEO, Bill Gates in a rare "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, and it was rather unexpected but sensible.

Bill Gates asks former U.S. President Barack Obama questions at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event - (Image source: Yana Paskova/Getty Images) — Bill Gates asks former U.S. President Barack Obama questions at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event (Image source: Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Will Bill Gates Pick up $100 Off the Floor?

About a decade ago, when Bill Gates was still at the helm of Microsoft, he did an Ask Me Anything Q&A on Reddit. To publicize the event, he shared a promo video on his YouTube channel to trigger some curiosity.

Photo illustration of the Reddit logo (Image source: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

In the promo, Gates answers some standard questions to demonstrate the format of the session. The first question was "How does it feel to be the biggest philanthropist in the world?" and in response, Gates humbly denied the claim saying that he isn't the biggest philanthropist at all and stated that it was a myth. He also explained that he isn't sacrificing anything in life to do good, while acknowleding that there are people in the world who choose to be on the field and sacrifice their lifestyle to help others.

The next question was also the most intriguing one for those witnessing the session. A user asked, "If you saw a $100 bill on the ground, would stop and pick it up?"

A man picking up a one hundred dollar bill off the sidewalk- (Image source: stock photo/Getty Images)

Answering the question, Gates said "All my thoughts about money were formed at a time when $100 really was a substantial amount of money." He went on to say that if someone finds the bill lying around, maybe it belongs to the person who is distraught over losing it. Hence, the nice thing to would be to find the owner and return the money. However, Gates admitted that if he ever finds a $100 bill, he would do something different. He said "I would pick it up and give it to the foundation (The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), because there, $100 actually buys quite a bit."

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to improving health and fighting poverty as well as inequity around the world. According to its official website, the foundation has given away about $77.6 billion toward various causes. More recently, the current CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mark Suzman called upon all the billionaires of the world to actively donate more.

Mark Suzman, CEO of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks at Semafor's The Next 3 Billion Summit (Image source: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

In his annual letter, Suzman made the call to the wealthy to help in the fight against inequity. The CEO also shared the story of Chuck Feeney, a billionaire who inspired Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French-Gates by giving away $8 billion from his fortune while keeping his donations anonymous, the Associated Press reported.

In 2024, the Gates foundation announced that it would spend $8.6 billion through the year, aided by a $20 billion donation that Gates himself made in 2022.