Warren Buffett announced Tuesday that he will donate 12 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to charity this year, directing 9 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 1 million shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the Novo Foundation — while omitting the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the first time since his landmark 2006 pledge began. The announcement was made in a Berkshire Hathaway statement posted Tuesday morning.
The exclusion breaks a pattern of charitable giving that has produced more than $47 billion in Berkshire stock donations to the Gates Foundation over two decades, making the relationship one of the largest sustained acts of individual philanthropy in American history. Buffett's statement, framing the gifts around his goal to "dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years," said nothing directly about the Gates Foundation or the reasons for its exclusion.
The Wall Street Journal reported in late June that Buffett had held off on his customary donation to the Gates Foundation while awaiting the results of a review the foundation had commissioned from law firm WilmerHale into its historical ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a March interview with CNBC, Buffett said he had not spoken with Bill Gates "at all since the whole thing was unveiled" and described the situation as one where he preferred not to "do a lot of talking" until the review was resolved. WilmerHale's findings are expected later this summer.
The decision carries limited direct financial implications for Berkshire Hathaway's business operations or stock valuation in the near term. Berkshire's Class B shares have risen 7.7% over the past month and 46.5% over three years, reflecting the company's diversified exposure to insurance, energy, manufacturing, and a substantial equity portfolio. The annual stock donation, while large in philanthropic terms, represents a small fraction of Buffett's overall Berkshire stake, which he has pledged to fully distribute to charitable causes by December 31, 2034.
The reputational dimension, however, is not trivial for either institution. For the Gates Foundation, the exclusion from Buffett's giving is the most visible sign yet of fraying between the two billionaires who founded the Giving Pledge together in 2010 and whose philanthropic partnership was seen as one of the defining acts of high-net-worth giving in the modern era. For Berkshire, analysts at Simply Wall St noted that the episode highlights how closely the company's public image remains tied to Buffett's personal decisions even as CEO Greg Abel prepares for the eventual leadership transition.
The news broke simultaneously with Tuesday's CPI report, five major bank earnings releases, and a re-escalation of the Iran conflict, leaving it somewhat overshadowed by higher-volatility market catalysts. Nevertheless, the structural message for investors tracking Berkshire over a longer horizon is clear: the philanthropic allocation of Buffett's remaining stake, and the relationships that shape it, remain a variable that deserves continued monitoring as the 2034 disposition deadline approaches.
Bill Gates was not mentioned in Buffett's statement, and the Gates Foundation did not release a public comment in response to the omission. Buffett indicated his three children are expected to "carry out the disposal" of his Berkshire shares by the December 31, 2034 deadline, a timeline that signals he views the philanthropic succession planning as a multi-year family effort rather than a matter requiring immediate resolution.