Warren Buffett’s charitable giving tops $50 billion as celebrity investor makes huge gift to Gates Foundation and pledges to four other organizations
- Buffett has donated more than $50 billion to philanthropic organizations since making the lifetime pledge in 2006.
- The legendary investor’s most recent gift of 10.45 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway to the bill and the Melinda Gates Foundation was worth $3.5 billion
Legendary investor Warren Buffett gave an additional $3.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation this week and distributed millions more to four foundations linked to his family.
This brings the total amount the Oracle of Omaha has given to philanthropic organizations, primarily the Gates Foundation, since 2006 to more than $50 billion.
The donations were made by handing over millions of shares in his investment company Berkshire Hathaway.
The most recent donation of 10.45 million Class B shares to Bill and the Melinda Gates Foundation was worth $3.5 billion.
Four other foundations linked to the Buffett family also received more than 3.2 million additional shares, bringing this year’s iteration of its annual charitable share payout to a total of 13.69 million shares. , the company revealed. in a press release.
Legendary investor Warren Buffet has given more than $50 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four foundations linked to his family
Buffett has been a trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2006.
Berkshire said 1.05 million shares were donated to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which supports reproductive health work and is named after Buffett’s late wife.
The Sherwood Foundation, which supports nonprofits in Nebraska, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which focuses on reducing hunger, mitigating conflict, and improving public safety, and the NoVo Foundation , which focuses on charitable causes for girls and women, received 2.2 million in total.
Buffett has confirmed that despite accumulating such large donations, he will leave the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes when he dies.
“Nothing out of the ordinary happened in Berkshire; a very long track, simple and generally sound decisions, the American tailwind and cumulative effects produced my current wealth, he wrote in the press release.
‘My will provides that over 99% of my estate is for philanthropic use.’
Buffett has been a trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2006, helping shape the foundation’s vision and ambitious strategies to address some of the world’s most pressing crises.
‘The impact of [Warren’s] prodigious generosity is difficult to quantify, said Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman.
“Even harder to quantify is how his values have permeated the culture of the foundation.”
Buffett has confirmed that despite accumulating such large donations, he will leave the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes when he dies.
Melinda Gates arrives for an official dinner as part of the ‘New Global Financial Pact Summit’, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on June 22, 2023
Buffett helped shape the ambitious vision and strategies of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to address some of the world’s most pressing crises
Bill Gates was married to Melinda French Gates for 27 years, but the couple made the shock announcement that they were separating two years ago, allegedly over her infidelity and association with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Melinda Gates later said in an interview that she warned Gates that Epstein was “evil personified”, but that her then-husband still met him.
In recent years, Gates has tried to play down his ties to Epstein, saying it was “a huge mistake to spend time with him”.
