Bill Gates says he wants to work another 20 to 30 years: ‘Warren Buffett still comes into the office six days a week’

For Bill Gates, the thought of working less than full-time “sounds awful.”

Gates, 68, says he hopes to follow in the footsteps of longtime friend Warren Buffett, who serves as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at age 94 and has no imminent plans to retire. “My friend Warren Buffett still comes into the office six days a week,” Gates tells CNBC Make It. “So, I hope my health allows me to be like Warren.”

The Microsoft co-founder still has so much he wants to do, he says. He remains a “technology advisor” for Microsoft, and spends much of his time using his net worth — currently $128 billion, Forbes estimates — to fund potential solutions for the global issues he sees as most pressing, particularly disease, poverty, climate change and access to healthcare and education.

Those issues are the focus of Gates’ latest project: an upcoming five-part Netflix docuseries called “What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates,” set to premiere on September 18.

“The [Bill & Melinda Gates] Foundation will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. We haven’t gotten rid of polio, we haven’t got rid of malaria. I’m very, very committed to those things,” says Gates. “We want to cut childhood deaths in half again, from 5 million to 2.5 million.”

That’s a big reason why Gates wants to wait as long as possible significantly lightening his workload, he says.

In his mind, that means “at least 10 years, if my health allows, working at this level,” he says, adding: “Hopefully it’ll be more like 20 or 30.”