Buffett redirects Berkshire gifts away from Gates Foundation

Warren Buffett is excluding the Gates Foundation from his latest round of Berkshire Hathaway stock donations, a major shift after nearly two decades in which the foundation received about $48 billion from him. The move redirects nearly $6 billion in shares to charities tied to Buffett’s family and signals the end of one of philanthropy’s largest donor-foundation relationships.

In a Tuesday announcement released by Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett said he is giving 12 million Class B shares to charitable organizations this year. All of those shares are going to four foundations associated with his children or late wife, rather than to the Gates Foundation.

Buffett, 95, also said the rest of his Berkshire shares, valued at about $140 billion, will be distributed by the end of 2034 to the same family-linked organizations. “Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034,” he wrote in the announcement.

Family foundations receive the shares

The largest portion of this year’s gift, 9 million Berkshire Class B shares valued at roughly $4.5 billion, is headed to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, according to the Berkshire announcement. Buffett created the foundation in 1964 and renamed it for his late wife after her death in 2004. His daughter, Susie Buffett, chairs its board.

Three other foundations will each receive 1 million shares, valued at about $500 million apiece. They are the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, run by Buffett’s son Howard Buffett; the NoVo Foundation, run by his son Peter Buffett; and the Sherwood Foundation, founded and overseen by Susie Buffett.

Buffett has supported those organizations for years, but the Gates Foundation had long received the largest share of his annual giving. Fortune reported that Buffett gave the Gates Foundation 9.4 million Berkshire shares last year, a donation valued at about $4.6 billion.

The change stands out because Buffett made a 2006 lifetime pledge to support the Gates Foundation under certain conditions, including that Bill Gates or Melinda French Gates remain alive and active in the organization. The Gates Foundation’s own materials say Buffett has donated $48 billion to it.

Strain around Gates relationship

Fortune reported that Buffett and Bill Gates’ relationship has weakened in recent years, beginning around Gates’ 2021 divorce from Melinda French Gates and later amid scrutiny of Gates’ contacts with Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett resigned as a Gates Foundation trustee in 2021 after 15 years, saying then that his goals remained aligned with the foundation and that his physical participation was not needed.

In a March interview with CNBC, Buffett reflected on that departure and said “there was a lot I didn’t know.” In 2024, he also said the Gates Foundation would not receive money from his estate after his death, with his remaining wealth instead going to a charitable trust overseen by his three children, Fortune reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Buffett had paused a midyear gift to the Gates Foundation while awaiting a review by the law firm WilmerHale into possible foundation ties to Epstein. Fortune reported that Justice Department documents released earlier this year showed Epstein cultivated connections to people close to Gates, including Gates Foundation advisers, and used those ties to seek information and influence.

Gates has not been accused of taking part in Epstein’s crimes. In written remarks to the House Oversight Committee last month, Gates said, “Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment and put this work at risk.”

Fortune reported that representatives for Buffett and the Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gates told Fortune last year that the foundation planned to spend more than $200 billion over 20 years and close in 2045.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.