Warren Buffett Drops Gates Foundation From Nearly $6B In Donations—First Time In 20 Years

Warren Buffett excluded the Gates Foundation from his midyear donations for the first time since 2006, opting instead to donate thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shares worth almost $6 billion to four foundations run by his children.Key factsIn a statement released on Tuesday, Buffett said he would donate 9 million Class B shares (worth about $4.4 billion) to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, as well as 1 million each (each donation worth about $496 million) to the Sherwood Foundation, founded by Susie Buffett, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Novo Foundation, founded by Peter and Jennifer Buffett.Buffett had also been making annual donations to the Gates Foundation, the charitable fund founded by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates, since 2006, but snubbed the organization this year after previously donating billions last summer.Buffett’s plans to skip donations to the Gates Foundation were first reported by the Wall Street Journal in June, which said he was delaying a decision about future donations to the fund until possibly Thanksgiving.The report indicated the Berkshire Hathaway chair was waiting to see the results of a review of the Gates Foundation’s ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, and Buffett has also been in contact with the foundation’s leadership about the issue."My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years,” said Buffett, who is 95, in a statement on Tuesday, adding his remaining Berkshire Hathaway shares “will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034.”The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.Forbes valuationWe value Warren Buffett’s net worth at $147 billion, making him the tenth-wealthiest person in the world as of Tuesday. Known as one of the greatest investors in history, Buffett has promised to give away over 99% of the fortune he built over a decades-long career leading Berkshire Hathaway. He finally stepped down as CEO of the firm after 2025, but remains the company’s chairman.Key backgroundIn 2010, Buffett co-founded The Giving Pledge with Gates and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. Alongside the Gates family, Buffett pledged to give away 99% of his wealth away, writing in a letter he expected “all of my Berkshire shares will be expended for philanthropic purposes by 10 years after my estate is settled. Nothing will go to endowments; I want the money spent on current needs.” Buffett began annually donating to the Gates Foundation in 2006. However, Gates’s ties to Epstein have threatened the billionaire’s image as a benevolent philanthropist. Gates has apologized for his ties to the convicted sex offender, which also led to his divorce with French Gates in 2021. His ex-wife later stepped down as co-chair of the Gates Foundation in 2024. Emails included in the Epstein files showed the financier was in contact with Gates Foundation staff members, prompting the organization to launch an external review in April. In an earlier statement, the Gates Foundation said it expected to receive an update about that probe this summer.