Buffett to Give Away Berkshire Stake by 2034
(Bloomberg) — Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Shares are increasing the pace of their annual donations to charities run by his three sons, putting him on track to divest his stake in the company entirely over the next eight years.
For the first time in two decades, Buffett decided to skip his mid-year donation to the Gates Foundation and did not list it among the organizations that will receive gifts in the future. This comes after a series of documents released by the US Department of Justice earlier this year confirmed a re-examination of Bill Gates’ relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Instead, the 95-year-old philanthropist and Berkshire Hathaway chairman plans to give 1 million Class B shares to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Novo Foundation, each run by one of his sons, in a statement Tuesday. The billionaire is donating 9 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife.
“Obviously mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining stake will be donated to the four foundations in one way or another until December 31, 2034,” Buffett said. “The goal is to increase the annual grant each year to each of the three foundations managed by each of my children and to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.”
Read more: Bill Gates told Congress that the Epstein connection was a ‘serious mistake’
The billionaire currently owns 188,290 Class A shares of Berkshire and 1,162 Class B shares.
Buffett said last year that he wanted to speed up charitable donations to the foundation so that his children could easily pass on their assets when they die. A year ago, Berkshire’s chairman gave the three foundations nearly $320 million in stock.
The Gates Foundation has ordered a review of its past dealings with Epstein and plans to examine policies to vet new philanthropic partnerships. Buffett is awaiting the results of the review before making additional gifts to the foundation, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
“The Gates Foundation is grateful to Warren Buffett for his decades of support of our work,” the organization said in a statement Tuesday. His gifts, the foundation said, “have helped us expand the foundation’s mission and improve health and opportunity for people around the world.”
Berkshire shares have fallen 8 percent since Monday from their all-time high in May last year, before Buffett announced he would step down as CEO. The S&P 500 has gained 32% over the same period.
