OMAHA — Warren Buffett is accelerating the disposal of his Berkshire Hathaway holdings, setting a target to donate all of his remaining shares by the end of 2034 as the billionaire investor redirects his philanthropy toward foundations run by his family and ends a two-decade practice of annual gifts to the Gates Foundation.
The 95-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman announced on July 14 that he had converted 8,000 Class A shares into 12 million Class B shares for donation, with a total value of nearly $6 billion based on market prices. The shares will go to four charitable organizations: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.
The move places Buffett on track to dispose of his entire Berkshire stake within about eight years, significantly accelerating a timetable he had previously expected would extend well beyond his lifetime.
"My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years," Buffett said in a statement. He added that he hoped his three children would complete the distribution of the remaining shares by Dec. 31, 2034.
For the first time since beginning his large-scale charitable giving in 2006, Buffett excluded the Gates Foundation from his annual midyear donations. Since launching his philanthropic commitment two decades ago, the foundation established by Bill Gates has received more than $47 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock from Buffett, according to figures released by Berkshire and the Gates Foundation.
In an interview broadcast by CNBC on July 15, Buffett said the decision reflected his confidence that his children were now prepared to oversee the distribution of his fortune rather than concerns surrounding Gates' past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"I tell the three children that it is theirs, and it's their responsibility to get it done well," Buffett said. He described Gates' contacts with Epstein as "distasteful" but said they were not the reason he ended donations to the Gates Foundation.
The Gates Foundation thanked Buffett for his decades of support and said his past contributions had helped advance global health, education and poverty-reduction initiatives. The organization has previously said it remains financially well positioned through Bill Gates' own long-term funding commitments.
Buffett's latest announcement also comes as Berkshire Hathaway continues its leadership transition following Greg Abel's assumption of the chief executive role earlier this year. Buffett remains chairman and has said the accelerated transfer of his shares is intended to ensure that decisions about his estate are completed while he retains confidence in the process and in the ability of his children to oversee the remaining philanthropic distributions.
