To the Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:

We have audited, in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, the statements of financial position of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (the Foundation) as of December 31, 2002 and 2001, and the related statements of activities and cash flows (not presented herein) for the years then ended; and in our report dated March 21, 2003, we expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

The accompanying condensed financial statements include only summarized statements of financial position and statements of activities, and do not include statements of cash flows or the footnote disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Additionally, for purposes of these condensed financial statements, the Foundation has combined investments loaned under secured lending transactions, liabilities under investment loan agreements, investment sale receivables, and investment purchases payable and included the net result within investments, which is also a departure from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

In our opinion, except as described in the previous paragraph, the information set forth in the accompanying condensed financial statements is fairly stated, in all material respects, in relation to the financial statements from which it has been derived.

March 21, 2003