Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has ended one of the biggest philanthropic partnerships in history with the Gates Foundation after nearly two decades and $48 billion in donations.
This year, the 95-year-old former Berkshire Hathaway CEO is donating a total of 12 million Class B Berkshire shares to charitable organizations, worth just under $6 billion. In a striking change from the past 19 years—the Gates Foundation will receive none of it.
The news comes as Buffett and Gates’ relationship has deteriorated over the past several years starting with the Microsoft founder’s divorce from philanthropist Melinda French Gates in 2021 and later because of Gates’ alleged ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Buffett is keeping his annual donations close to home this year, with all of the shares designated for foundations associated with or run by his family. The remainder of his $140 billion worth of Berkshire shares will be disbursed by 2034 to the organizations run by his family, he announced Tuesday.
“Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034,” he wrote.
