Warren Buffett to bequeath vast wealth to new foundation upon death

Warren Buffett (right) and Bill Gates have a long-standing relationship around philanthropy but Buffett is to cut off donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute his fortune. Photo / Nati Harnik, AP, File

Warren Buffett has confirmed he planned to donate the vast majority of his wealth to a new foundation led by his three children when he dies, ending a long history of donating to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The billionaire chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway reiterated to The Wall Street Journal that his children Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett would be the trustees of the new foundation, which will receive one of the largest wealth infusions of all time when he passes.

Buffett, who turns 94 in August, disclosed he held roughly $130 billion ($213b) of Berkshire stock on Friday.

He also made clear that the Gates Foundation would not be a benefactor in his will.

“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Buffett said in the interview.

Buffett has gifted the foundation roughly $43b over the last two decades, including a $4b donation announced on Friday morning.

Buffett’s ties with the Gates Foundation date to 2006, when he announced he would make annual donations to it and four charities run by his family.

He would later launch the Giving Pledge with Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010, which invited billionaires to gift at least half of their wealth to charity.

His donations were structured so that each year 5% of his Berkshire shares would be gifted to the Gates Foundation, which ensured Buffett would never fully sell out of the company before his death.

Buffett also set several conditions to continue the pledge, including that either Bill or Melinda Gates remain alive and active in the foundation, and that his donations allow the foundation to spend at least 5% of its endowment each year.

Buffett, who had been a trustee on the foundation since 2006, resigned in 2021. Melinda Gates stepped down earlier this month.

Mark Suzman, chief executive of the Gates Foundation, said Buffett had “played an invaluable role in championing and shaping the foundation’s work to create a world where every person can live a healthy, productive life”.

“We are deeply grateful for his most recent gift and contributions,” he added.

Buffett launched the Giving Pledge with Melinda Gates (pictured) and Bill Gates. Photo / Jose Luis Magana, AP, File

The Gates Foundation, which funnelled $7.7b to projects last year, has focused its aid on global health initiatives, agriculture development and promoting gender equity in Africa and South Asia.

The future foundation that Buffett’s children will run will become one of the biggest philanthropies in the world at its launch, rivalling the Novo Nordisk Foundation at $108b as of 2022.

It will immediately surpass other large charities, including the $75b Gates and $16b Ford foundations, giving it the ability to fund billions of dollars of projects annually.

Buffett said he had not charged his children with specific philanthropies to pursue. Susie and Howard both sit on the Berkshire board.

“It should be used to help the people that haven’t been as lucky as we have been,” Buffett said on Friday.

“There’s eight billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1% or something. There’s lots of ways to help people.”

Written by: Eric Platt

© Financial Times