Bill Gates tests positive for COVID-19

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

"I'm experiencing mild symptoms and am following the experts' advice by isolating until I'm healthy again. I'm fortunate to be vaccinated and boosted and have access to testing and great medical care," Gates said on Twitter.

He said the charitable Gates Foundation will continue working with its partners and do all it can "to ensure none of us have to deal with a pandemic again."

Gates turned his fortune from software firm Microsoft into a diversified fortune, including investments in zero-carbon energy. His current real-time net worth is $126.6 billion according to Forbes.

Gates, who cofounded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975, stepped down from Microsoft’s board as of March 2020 owning about 1% of the software and computing company's shares.

To date, Gates has donated an estimated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.