Bill Gates

Bill Gates hasn't officially had anything to do with Microsoft since 2020, when he stepped down from the company's board of directors. But the world's wealthiest man for much of the 21st century remains its largest individual shareholder, helping Gates continually power his globe-spanning priorities. His Gates Foundation is one of the world's most respected (and well-funded) charitable foundations, focused on addressing world inequities related to disease, agriculture, and education. His Breakthrough Energy Ventures is committed to climate solutions. Through his Cascade Investment firm, Gates is majority owner in the Four Seasons hotel group and is believed to be the largest private farmland owner in the U.S. His Giving Pledge—created with ex-wife Melinda French Gates and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett—remains a philanthropic engine among the billionaires he mingles with.