The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill and his wife Melinda Gates. It is located in Washington. It was launched in 2000 and is holding nearly $46.8 billion in assets. The main target of the foundation are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the globe, and to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S. The foundation is controlled by its three trustees: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett.