Warren Buffett donates $3.6bn to Gates’ and family charities

Warren Buffett is donating roughly $3.6 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charities, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the biggest contribution in Buffett's plan to give away his fortune.

Berkshire said Buffett’s 14th annual donation comprises about 16.81 million Class “B” shares of Berkshire.

The donation will boost the amount Buffett has given to the charities to more than $34.5 billion since the 88-year-old billionaire pledged in 2006 to give his shares away.

Four-fifths of the donations go to the Gates Foundation. The rest goes to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for Buffett's late first wife, and charities run by his children Howard, Susan and Peter: the Howard G Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

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Buffett has since 1965 built Berkshire into a roughly $522 billion conglomerate owning such businesses as the BNSF railroad, Geico auto insurance and Dairy Queen ice cream, and stocks such as Apple and Wells Fargo & Co.

Buffett’s largest prior annual donation was $3.4 billion in 2018.

Following the latest donation, Buffett will still own about 15.7 per cent of Berkshire, despite having given away 45 per cent of his 2006 holdings and roughly 31 per cent of its voting power.

He remains the world’s fourth-richest person, worth $87.5 billion according to Forbes magazine.

The Gates and family charities typically sell Buffett’s shares to finance their activities, reflecting his desire that money be spent. Buffett also donates to other charities. – Reuters