Bill Gates Launching New Fund, Talks to Donald Trump About Green Energy
Microsoft Corp. (ticker: MSFT) founder Bill Gates is looking toward the future of energy -- and didn't hesitate talking to President-elect Donald Trump about it, reports Bloomberg.
Gates, along with fellow high-profile billionaires, launched a new fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. It's already received $1 billion from technology and energy heavyweights. The fund hopes to pour more money into technologies that could limit or even wipe out greenhouse gas emissions.
The fund can begin using the money next year. Among its investors include Amazon.com (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg.
Gates spoke with Trump regarding a "philanthropic and investment agenda," reports Bloomberg. Trump has previously called climate change a hoax and kept the company of people who think the same.
"The key point I was pushing there was the opportunity for innovation in not only energy but also medicine and education and encouraging the idea that that's a great deal and a great thing for American leadership," Gates said.
The billionaire did note after the call that green technology would likely face heavy cuts, but was still upbeat about the future. "I do think the most bipartisan piece of energy policy has been a commitment to energy R&D," Gates said. Wind and solar energy industry lobby groups want to contact Republicans to solidify backing from Congress for keeping renewable energy project tax credits, notes Reuters.
In order to solve greenhouse gas issues, Gates wants to follow the work of another company he's backed: TerraPower. Breakthrough Energy Ventures hopes to gather scientists that will examine electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and building plans. If a particular greenhouse gas plan looks like it might work, the fund would seek outside reassurance from companies and public institutions after building it up itself. Once the idea still holds up, the fund would go to companies directly and gear up the technology for a market debut.
The fund is aiming for five ideas each year to support, but Gates wants that number to be greater, pending ideas.
"We would love to have the money go out in two to three years," Gates told Bloomberg. "But it's more likely that it will take five years to deploy the capital. If we have good ideas, we will add new rounds to this. I don't think we'll have any difficulty doing that."
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David Oliver is Associate Editor, Social Media at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email at doliver@usnews.com.
