For two decades, Warren Buffett’s midyear ritual has been as predictable as Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting serving Cherry Coke. Every summer, billions in Berkshire stock flow out to charitable foundations, with the lion’s share heading to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Not this year.
Buffett has excluded the Gates Foundation from his latest round of Berkshire Hathaway stock donations, marking the first time in 20 years the foundation has been left off the list. The decision comes as the foundation undergoes a review by law firm WilmerHale into its historical connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
The numbers behind the break
In June 2025, Buffett donated approximately $6 billion in Berkshire Class B shares across his philanthropic commitments. Roughly $4.6 billion of that went directly to the Gates Foundation.
Since 2006, Buffett has given away over $60 billion, primarily in Berkshire shares. His pledge to donate more than 99% of his wealth has been the foundation’s financial backbone for the better part of two decades.
