Buffett cuts Gates Foundation from $6B donation, sets 2034 exit timeline
Warren Buffett is redirecting $6 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares to his children's foundations instead of the Gates Foundation, establishing a definitive 2034 deadline to unwind his stake that removes uncertainty for Berkshire investors.
Warren Buffett has excluded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from his annual midyear charitable giving for the first time since 2006. The Berkshire Hathaway chairman is instead directing nearly $6 billion in Class B shares to four philanthropies operated by his children. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation will receive 9 million shares valued at roughly $4.4 billion, while the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the Novo Foundation will each receive 1 million shares worth about $496 million.
For markets, the disclosure removes a long-standing question regarding the ultimate disposition of Buffett’s roughly $147 billion fortune. Large, sustained stock donations by billionaires can occasionally create overhang concerns for public companies, but Buffett’s strict deadline provides a predictable unwinding schedule. The 95-year-old stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive after 2025 but remains chairman, maintaining his influence over the conglomerate even as he structures the exit from his personal stake.
“My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years,” Buffett said. He specified that all remaining holdings will go to the four family foundations by December 31, 2034. By concentrating future distributions among these four entities, Buffett is centralizing the eventual selling pressure of his donated shares rather than dispersing it across multiple large external organizations like the Gates Foundation.
The redirection of capital away from the Gates Foundation is the most significant structural change in this year’s giving. Buffett had delayed his decision pending the outcome of an independent review into the foundation’s historical ties to Jeffrey Epstein. That review, commissioned earlier this year, is expected to conclude this summer. Bill Gates has acknowledged that meeting Epstein was a mistake and apologized for the association.
Buffett’s philanthropic tie to Gates spanned nearly two decades. He began donating to the foundation in 2006, later teaming up with Gates and Melinda French Gates to launch The Giving Pledge in 2010. Although Buffett left the foundation’s board in 2021, he continued his annual funding until now. The split comes after Melinda French Gates departed the foundation in 2024, leaving Bill Gates as its sole chair.
