Buffett donates another $4.6 billion in Berkshire stock, Gates Foundation loses for the first time
Berkshire Hathaway issued a press release on Tuesday announcing that Chairman Warren Buffett has made an annual charitable donation, giving a total of approximately 11 million Class B shares (valued at approximately $4.6 billion) to four family foundations. Unlike previous years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not appear on the grant list this year. According to the announcement, Buffett donated 9 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and approximately 666,700 shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Novo Foundation. After this donation, Buffett still holds approximately 18.3% of Berkshire's shares, with a total value of approximately US$120 billion. Buffett reiterated in the statement that his goal is to "dispose of all Berkshire shares within approximately eight years" and made it clear that "by December 31, 2034, I hope that my children will be able to complete the stock disposal work." Buffett did not directly explain in his statement the exclusion of the Gates Foundation. But he previously said in an interview that "there's no point in having a lot of conversations" until the review surrounding the Gates Foundation's ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is completed. It is reported that the results of the review are expected to be announced this summer. Since launching the donation program in 2006, Buffett has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation. The change marks the first time in nearly two decades that the foundation has not received an annual donation from Buffett. Berkshire shares were trading slightly in premarket trading Tuesday. Buffett will receive an exclusive interview on Wednesday to discuss the donation decision in detail.