Bill Gates Vision 2030. In 2009, Gates and Warren Buffett founded The Giving Pledge, whereby they and other billionaires pledge to give at least half of their wealth to philanthropy. Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and donated some of his Microsoft stock in 1994 to create the "William H. Gates Foundation." In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations and Gates donated stock valued at $5 billion to create the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was identified by the Funds for NGOs company in 2013, as the world's wealthiest charitable foundation, with
Thomas S. Gates Jr. College of the Atlantic is named in his honor. Gates died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 25, 1983. The "Ticonderoga"-class guided missile cruiser USS "Thomas S. Gates" (CG-51) is named after the late Secretary of Defense. It is the only such cruiser named after a person. Thomas S. Gates Jr. Thomas Sovereign Gates Jr. (April 10, 1906March 25, 1983) was United States Secretary of Defense from 1959 to 1961 under President Eisenhower. He was promoted from deputy secretary of defense. During his tenure, he established a task force to set nuclear target priorities. He also authorized U-2 reconnaissance flights, including