In a heated exchange, Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of causing harm to the world’s poorest children through drastic cuts in US foreign aid, especially in health programs.
By Joe D. May 9, 2025
Bill Gates charged Elon Musk of indirectly helping to kill the world’s poorest children by cutting US development aid programs in a heated interview with the Financial Times. Gates cited the activities of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has supervised the destruction of vital USAID programs. Gates contends that the outcome has been the death of essential medical and food assistance, hence endangering world health and aggravating the comeback of preventable diseases including measles, HIV, and polio.
Gates particularly mentioned Musk’s contentious decision to cut financing for an HIV-prevention hospital in Gaza Province, Mozambique. The rich philanthropist contended that Musk’s erroneous assumption that the money was flowing to Hamas caused the end of a project directly aiding HIV prevention in one of the most impoverished areas of the globe. Musk later acknowledged the misunderstanding, saying he had confused Gaza Province in Mozambique for the Gaza Strip in the Middle East.
Gates said emphatically, “The image of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a nice one.” He continued to criticize Musk’s attitude, labeling his behavior “ignorant” and arguing that Musk’s market-driven worldview, promoted via his businesses Tesla and SpaceX, was harming the most vulnerable people.
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By 2045, Gates Foundation to Close
Gates also disclosed in the same interview that the Gates Foundation, which he co-founded with his ex-wife Melinda, will close by 2045. Over the next 20 years, the foundation has promised to use almost all of its remaining $200 billion to promote worldwide health, education, and development projects. While still living, Gates said he wanted to have the biggest possible influence and promised to give health and education top priority over the long-term destiny of the foundation.
The announcement of the foundation’s demise has attracted notice not only because of its far-reaching charitable activities but also because of the disturbing void created by USAID cuts. Gates cautioned that even at its size, private charity could not make up for the $44 billion in US foreign aid lost because of development program cuts. He underlined that private companies like his own cannot maintain worldwide health initiatives on the scale that government financing historically achieved.
Musk’s Behavior and the Consequences
Musk’s behavior has provoked heated responses from several world leaders; detractors say the billionaire’s quest of efficiency and profit is eclipsing the urgent need for international development help. Though there is bipartisan support for many of the impacted programs, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has come under fire for significantly cutting the federal government’s foreign aid budget.
Dr. Emily Rowe, a public health specialist at Global Health Initiatives, said, “While efficient from a business point of view, Elon Musk’s strategy ignores the deep-seated need for continuous government intervention in health and humanitarian aid.” Cuts by DOGE are undoing decades of gains in fields including HIV prevention, immunization initiatives, and developing country food security.
Apart from his reductions to health initiatives, Musk has been under fire for his recent choices to reduce financing for worldwide humanitarian activities, charging USAID with ineffectiveness and lack of responsibility. Many detractors contend that although Musk’s commercial empire keeps flourishing, his emphasis on privatizing assistance and lessening government engagement has been catastrophic for the poorest countries of the world.
Global Health and Development in the Future
Gates’s dedication to using his riches on health and education in the last years of his foundation’s life is commendable, but it highlights a clear problem: the viability of worldwide development initiatives. Gates underlined that although charity is quite vital, it cannot replace the void left by reductions in government assistance.
Gates said, “The government should be the main funding source for world health.” Private money cannot substitute the sort of infrastructure and far-reaching projects public aid agencies like USAID deliver.
The continuing conflict between Gates and Musk highlights more generally the conflict between government-funded efforts for addressing global inequality and market-driven solutions. While Gates contends that a robust public sector is crucial for attaining long-term, fair solutions, Musk has long advocated the notion that private enterprise and technology-driven solutions should have more influence in world development.
The conflict between these two giants could determine the future of world charity and international development for years to come as Musk keeps claiming his impact on government efficiency and overseas aid.
Global Health and Aid: What Next?
The continuing conflict between Bill Gates and Elon Musk is more than simply a public spat between two rich people; it underscores the growing divided opinions on how to handle the most pressing issues facing the planet. The future of global development aid is unknown given the Gates Foundation’s looming closure and Musk’s cuts in government support.
Should the trend persist, it would provide long-term problems for global health projects, especially in the battle against HIV, polio, and other avoidable diseases. Many are left wondering if government involvement or private creativity will finally determine the future of world charity as worldwide leaders and organizations wait the result of this conflict.
