Ololade Adeyanju/
Warren Buffett has brought an end to nearly two decades of annual donations to the Gates Foundation, excluding the charity from this year’s distribution of almost $6 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares despite having previously donated more than $47 billion to the organisation.
The move marks a significant turning point in one of philanthropy’s most influential partnerships.
Since 2006, Buffett has been the Gates Foundation’s largest benefactor after its founders, making cumulative donations exceeding $47 billion before deciding to redirect his remaining wealth to charities controlled by his family.
Instead of donating to the Gates Foundation, the 95-year-old billionaire on Tuesday transferred $4.5 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife, and $500 million each to three foundations run by his children.
Buffett also reaffirmed that his remaining Berkshire Hathaway stake would be distributed to the four family-linked foundations within the next eight years.
“My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years,” Buffett said, adding that he expected his children to complete the process by the end of 2034.
The Gates Foundation acknowledged Buffett’s longstanding support, describing it as “decades of support for our work”. It said the organisation remained financially secure and was well positioned to continue its programmes through 2045, backed by Bill Gates’ commitment to contribute $200 billion to the foundation.
Buffett’s decision comes against the backdrop of continued scrutiny over Bill Gates’ past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Court documents and other disclosures have renewed attention on Gates’ contacts with Epstein, while internal communications revealed that staff at the Gates Foundation had also interacted with Epstein over a failed fundraising proposal.
In February, the foundation’s chief executive, Mark Suzman, told employees that those contacts were “deeply unsettling and depressing” and “shouldn’t have happened”.
Earlier this year, Buffett disclosed that he had not spoken to Gates since the Epstein controversy surfaced, saying he did not want to be in a position where he might be called as a witness in any investigation involving the late financier.
The pair enjoyed one of the closest relationships in global philanthropy for more than three decades. Alongside Melinda French Gates, they launched the Giving Pledge in 2010, encouraging the world’s wealthiest individuals to donate the majority of their fortunes to charitable causes.
However, Buffett had already indicated last year that the bulk of his remaining fortune would ultimately pass to foundations overseen by his children rather than the Gates Foundation, signalling a major shift in his long-term philanthropic strategy.
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