Buffett shifts his giving to family foundations
Warren Buffett says his children will steer his philanthropy as he redirects Berkshire shares away from the Gates Foundation.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Warren Buffett is moving the center of his philanthropy to charities tied to his family, a shift that puts his three children in charge of distributing much of one of the world’s largest fortunes. Berkshire Hathaway said Tuesday that Buffett is donating 12 million Class B shares, worth just under $6 billion, to charitable organizations, with none of that gift going to the Gates Foundation.
Buffett, 95, told CNBC that his plan to give away his money dates back to his early adulthood, long before Bloomberg estimated his fortune at $147 billion. He said he and his late first wife, Susie Buffett, expected to live comfortably and raise a family, but did not set out to accumulate luxury homes or yachts.
“Even then, we talked about what we would do philanthropically,” Buffett told CNBC.
According to Buffett, the couple believed he could compound money faster than it could be put to use immediately, while Susie Buffett had a stronger instinct for hands-on giving. He described himself as more inclined toward large-scale donations, while saying his wife, who died in 2004 after a stroke, preferred direct involvement with recipients.
A long-running pledge to give
Buffett later helped create the Giving Pledge in 2010 with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. The initiative asks wealthy people to publicly commit to using a large share of their money for charitable purposes and to begin thinking about philanthropy earlier.
For nearly 20 years, Buffett directed a large portion of his giving through the Gates Foundation. Fortune reported that he donated about $48 billion to the foundation over 19 years before the latest change in direction.
Fortune also reported that speculation about the distance between Buffett and Gates has focused on Gates’s past links to Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett told CNBC he watched Gates’s congressional testimony earlier this year and described the matter as “distasteful,” while also saying he had made his own mistakes in judging people he had hired.
Children will oversee the rest
Buffett’s latest donations are going to foundations associated with or run by his family, according to Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett also said the rest of his Berkshire shares, valued at about $140 billion, will be distributed by 2034 to organizations led by his family.
His three children are Howard Buffett, Peter Buffett and Susan Buffett. Buffett told CNBC that the handoff became more natural as they got older and said they are able to pursue the goals he and Susie Buffett had in mind.
Buffett said he gives his children broad authority over the charitable work. He said he tells them the money is theirs to put to use and that they are responsible for doing it well.
He also said he does not monitor their nonprofit filings. “You may find this hard to believe, but it’s true, I never looked at their Form 990s,” Buffett told CNBC, referring to the IRS filing used by nonprofits.
Buffett said philanthropy differs from investing because charitable decisions can be worth taking even when the chance of success is uncertain. He told CNBC he does not judge each action as it happens because some efforts may have only a 10% or 20% probability of working.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.