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Key Takeaways
- Warren Buffett said Friday he will give about $5.3 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charities.
- Buffett made a commitment to donate annually to the same five charities, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2006.
- Upon his death, Buffett’s fortune will largely go to a new charitable trust handled by his three children.
Warren Buffett is donating about $5.3 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) shares to five charities, the legendary investor announced Friday.
Buffett, 93, will convert 8,674 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares into more than 13 million Berkshire Class B shares, which will be donated on Friday. Buffett, who is Berkshire’s longtime chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), now owns 207,963 Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, which are worth roughly $128 billion.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust will receive more than 9.9 million shares, with the remainder going to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation.
The so-called “Oracle of Omaha” announced lifetime commitments to those five foundations in 2006 and has made annual donations since. The donations will expire upon his death, and Buffett wrote his will provides that “more than 99%” of his estate will be “destined for philanthropic usage.”
Giving to Gates Foundation Ends After Buffett’s Death
Buffett’s posthumous philanthropy will see much of his estate be put into a new charitable trust run by his three children, according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Susan, Howard, and Peter Buffett will decide how to allocate the funds to charity.
Susan Buffett chairs two of Warren Buffett’s lifetime commitments: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for her late mother, as well as the Sherwood Foundation. Howard Buffett leads the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, while Peter Buffett and his wife, Jennifer Buffett, head the NoVo Foundation.
Buffett said that the donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would end upon his death. “The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Buffett told the Journal.
Last November, Warren Buffett published a statement stating that his will would be made public upon his death.
“After my death, the disposition of my assets will be an open book—no ‘imaginative’ trusts or foreign entities to avoid public scrutiny but rather a simple will available for inspection at the Douglas County Courthouse,” the billionaire said.