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US investor and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett has stopped donating to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The 95-year-old billionaire made this decision after recent revelations about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Buffett said he will donate about $6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares to four family charities run by his children as part of his annual mid-year gift this year. The organizations are overseen by his daughter Suzie and two sons, Howard and Peter.
Notably, Buffett did not mention the Gates Foundation’s name once in this announcement.
In 2006, Buffett made an irrevocable promise to donate shares during his lifetime, and since then, the Gates Foundation has received about $47 billion worth of Berkshire shares. However, this year, that trend has been interrupted compared to last year (by more than $4.5 billion).
In his statement, Buffett said that his remaining shares will be donated to those four organizations by 2034 anyway, because while the future is uncertain, his plan is clear.
Neither the Gates Foundation nor Berkshire Hathaway immediately responded to Reuters’ request for comment.
Incidentally, Buffett announced in 2024 that donations to the Gates Foundation would cease upon his death. He was a trustee of the foundation until 2021.
Bill Gates’ reputation has been in question since the US Department of Justice released documents related to Epstein in February of this year. The released photos show Gates with Epstein and several women with their faces blurred.
In addition, information about email communications between Epstein and foundation employees has also come to light.
Gates admitted in a June testimony to the US Congress that he did not fully understand the extent of Epstein’s crimes when he met with him about potential philanthropic activities. No criminal charges have been directly brought against Gates, 70.
He has repeatedly expressed remorse for his involvement with Epstein, denied spending time with any of Epstein’s sexual abuse victims, and said he never personally witnessed any of Epstein’s criminal activities.
Buffett has already given away more than half of his Berkshire shares since he began giving away his wealth in 2006. Before the recent donation, he owned about 14 percent of Berkshire, and his net worth is estimated at $21 billion (US$147 billion), according to Forbes magazine.
According to the new announcement, nine million Class B shares will be donated to the Suzanne Thompson Buffett Foundation and one million shares each to the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the Novo Foundation.
Buffett said his goal is to increase the amount of donations each year, especially at a relatively rapid rate for the Suzanne Thompson Buffett Foundation.
Suzie Buffett runs the Suzanne Thompson Buffett Foundation, which funds reproductive health. The foundation is named after Warren Buffett’s first wife and Suzie’s mother.
The Sherwood Foundation supports various non-profit organizations and early childhood education programs in the state of Nebraska. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation works to end global hunger, prevent human trafficking, and mitigate various conflicts.
The Novo Foundation’s activities are focused on the welfare of marginalized women and girls and indigenous peoples.
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