Warren Buffett speaks with CNBC at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 2, 2026.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Warren Buffett has removed the Gates Foundation from his annual charitable stock giving, directing all of this year’s donations to four family-related foundations.
Berkshire Hathaway announced that its 95-year-old chairman will donate 9 million shares of Berkshire’s Class B stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and 1 million shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Novo Foundation.
“My goal is to liquidate all of my Berkshire stock within approximately eight years,” Buffett said in a statement announcing the gift. “As I explained last year, unfortunately my children are growing up. I hope they will be able to dispose of my shares by December 31, 2034.”
Mr. Buffett did not include the Gates Foundation, which has long been the largest recipient of annual donations to Berkshire. Since 2006, Berkshire’s chairman has donated more than $47 billion worth of Berkshire stock to charities founded by Bill Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates.
The omission comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that Buffett is holding back on his customary donations to the Gates Foundation while awaiting the results of an investigation into its ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a March interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick, Buffett said he had not spoken to Gates at all “since the whole story came out.”
Asked if the two would remain close friends, Buffett said, “We had a great time together,” but added, “Until things are resolved…I don’t think there’s any point in talking about it too much.”
The decision marks a reversal of a pledge Buffett made 20 years ago. In a 2006 letter to Bill and Melinda Gates, Buffett wrote that he had made an “irrevocable commitment” to make an annual gift of Berkshire stock to the foundation “for the rest of his life,” provided that at least one of them remained actively involved with the foundation.
Buffett will appear exclusively on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday to discuss his annual giving.
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