Warren Buffett Cuts Ties with Gates Foundation, Redirects Billions to His Children’s Trusts

Warren Buffett, the 95-year-old billionaire philanthropist and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is accelerating his annual stock donations with a plan to fully divest his holdings in the company by December 31, 2034. His strategy aims to increase yearly grants to three charitable foundations managed by his children, while also raising donations to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife, at a slightly slower pace. Currently, Buffett holds 188,290 Class A shares and 1,162 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway.

In a significant shift after two decades, Buffett has decided to cease his mid-year donations to the Gates Foundation and exclude it from future contributions. This move follows renewed public scrutiny triggered by the release of Justice Department documents earlier this year, which reignited criticism of Bill Gates’s past associations with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Instead, Buffett is redirecting the bulk of his wealth directly to family-controlled foundations. He plans to transfer one million Class B shares each to the Sherwood, Howard G. Buffett, and NoVo foundations, all led by his three children, along with nine million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.

Buffett had already indicated last year his intention to speed up the distribution of his estate to these family foundations to facilitate easier management and allocation after his death. About six months ago, he gifted shares worth approximately $320 million to each of his children’s foundations and committed to an additional $200 million per foundation later this year.

Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation has commissioned an independent review of its past ties to Epstein and is developing new policies for vetting philanthropic partnerships. Buffett, however, is waiting for the full results of this investigation before considering any future donations to the Gates Foundation.

Amid these philanthropic developments, Berkshire Hathaway’s stock has underperformed, dropping about 8% since its peak in May last year, shortly before Buffett announced his retirement as CEO. This contrasts with the S&P 500’s 32% gain over the same period.