In a sweeping philanthropic pledge, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced Thursday that he will give away nearly his entire $108 billion fortune by 2045. Gates also launched a blistering attack on Elon Musk, accusing the Tesla and SpaceX CEO of “killing the world’s poorest children” by orchestrating cuts to US foreign aid. The announcement marks a dramatic acceleration of Gates’ giving and a rare public clash between two of the world’s most powerful billionaires. Bill Gates pledged on Thursday to give away $200 billion via his charitable foundation by 2045 and lashed out at Elon Musk, accusing the world's richest man of "killing the world's poorest children" through huge cuts to the US foreign aid budget. The 69-year-old billionaire co-founder of Microsoft said he was speeding up his plans to divest almost all of his fortune and would close the foundation on December 31, 2045, years earlier than previously planned. Gates said he believed the money would help achieve several of his goals, such as eradicating diseases like polio and malaria, ending preventable deaths among women and children, and reducing global poverty. His announcement follows moves by governments, including the Trump administration, to slash international aid budgets used to prevent deadly disease and famine. "The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one," Gates told the Financial Times. "The number of deaths will start going up for the first time ... it's going to be millions more deaths because of the resources," Gates told Reuters.