Buffett began to "clear out" himself
[Buffett begins to "clear out" himself] On Tuesday local time, the legendary American "stock god" Buffett announced that he plans to completely dispose of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway shares in the next eight years.
On Tuesday local time, the legendary American "stock god" Buffett announced that he plans to completely dispose of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway shares in the next eight years. Buffett, who will celebrate his 96th birthday next month, currently holds more than $140 billion in Berkshire shares. According to Berkshire's announcement, Buffett converted 8,000 Berkshire Class A shares into 12 million Berkshire Class B shares on Tuesday, and then donated 9 million shares to a charity named after his late first wife, Susan Thompson Buffett, and donated 1 million shares to each of his three children's foundations. The total market value is slightly more than 5.9 billion US dollars. (Source: Berkshire Hathaway) The announcement shows that Buffett currently owns 188,290 Berkshire Class A shares and 1,162 Berkshire Class B shares. Buffett said in the statement, "My goal is to dispose of all my Berkshire shares in approximately eight years. As I explained last year, my children are unfortunately getting older. It is my sincere hope that the three of them will be able to complete the disposal of my shares before December 31, 2034." Due to the longevity of the "Stock God", most of his three children are also in their seventies. The eldest sister of the three, Susan Buffett, will celebrate her 73rd birthday at the end of this month, the second brother, Howard Buffett, is 71 years old, and the younger brother, Peter Buffett, is also 68 years old. (From left to right: Susan Buffett, Howard Buffett, Peter Buffett) According to the Financial Associated Press report at the beginning of the year, the three people appeared together on a talk show and revealed that Buffett's will left them with a task: to donate all the wealth he accumulated within 10 years after his death, and the use of the money must be unanimously agreed by the three people. Regarding the "8-year agreement", Buffett also said that he knew that his life span was unpredictable. Therefore, no matter what happens, his remaining shares will be donated to the four aforementioned foundations before December 31, 2034. His goal is to increase the amount of annual donations to the three foundations managed by his three children each year; at the same time, the amount of annual donations to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation will grow at a slightly faster rate. Given the latest donation target, Buffett should make another donation by Thanksgiving at the end of the year. He donated about $1.3 billion worth of stock to these family foundations last year. The latest statement also means that the Gates Foundation will no longer be able to receive any donations from Buffett in the future. Buffett made a "lifetime donation" commitment to a charity founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife Melinda Gates in 2006. According to the plan he made at the time, which was to donate 5% of his shares every year, he was supposed to donate nearly $4.5 billion to the Gates Foundation this month. The rift between the two old friends appeared in 2021. After Gates and Melinda announced the end of their 27-year marriage, Buffett quickly resigned as a trustee of the Gates Foundation. In 2024, Buffett announced that he would modify his will and the Gates Foundation would no longer receive any money after his death. Today, the whole world knows that Gates’ association with the well-known criminal Epstein not only ruined his marriage, but also caused Buffett to cut ties with him. As the Epstein files were further exposed this year, Buffett revealed in March that Gates and I had not spoken much at all since the whole thing was exposed. He also said whether he would continue to donate to the Gates Foundation would depend on the outcome of the investigation into the incident. Reports emerged earlier this month that Buffett was delaying his donation to the Gates Foundation pending a law firm's review of the charity's ties to Epstein, the results of which are expected to be released this summer. From 2006 to 2025, Buffett has donated a total of 321 million shares of Berkshire stock to the Gates Foundation. At today's market capitalization, these stocks are worth $159.3 billion. However, the Gates Foundation has sold most of its shares in recent years to fund its operations. (