Warren Buffett ended his nearly two-decade partnership with the Gates Foundation, announcing he will redirect his remaining charitable giving to family-linked foundations and accelerate his wealth distribution timeline to 2034. The 95-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman, who has donated more than $47 billion to Bill Gates’ foundation since 2006, made no donations to it this year despite a previous irrevocable pledge to do so.
This year, Buffett announced a donation of 12 million Class B Berkshire shares worth just under $6 billion, all directed to four family foundations instead of the Gates Foundation. The bulk—9 million shares worth about $4.5 billion—goes to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife. Another 1 million shares each, worth approximately $500 million, will go to the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation, run by his sons, and to the Sherwood Foundation overseen by his daughter Susie Buffett.
In his announcement, Buffett wrote that his remaining Berkshire shares, currently valued at $140 billion, will be disbursed by December 31, 2034. “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 stated in a filing released Tuesday.
Years of Strain Over Gates’ Epstein Ties
The rupture between the two billionaires developed over several years. Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates announced their divorce in 2021, the same year Buffett stepped down as a trustee of the Gates Foundation after 15 years. In 2024, Buffett announced the foundation would receive no money from his estate after his death.
At the heart of the recent decision are Gates’ documented ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Justice Department documents released earlier this year revealed Epstein spent a decade cultivating connections to people close to Gates and leveraging those relationships for influence. Buffett called Gates’ association with Epstein “distasteful” in a CNBC interview, though he acknowledged that “people make mistakes.” Gates has said meeting Epstein was a “grave error in judgment” that put his philanthropic work at risk.
In March, Buffett reflected on his earlier resignation from the Gates Foundation board, telling CNBC: “There was a lot I didn’t know.” Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Buffett had paused his midyear donation to the foundation pending the results of a law firm review into the organization’s ties to Epstein.
Despite the split, the Gates Foundation said in a statement: “The Gates Foundation is grateful to Warren Buffett for his decades of support for our work. His gifts, totaling more than $47 billion, have helped us expand and deliver on the foundation’s mission to improve health and opportunity for people around the world.” The foundation continues from a position of financial strength, supported by Bill Gates’ $200 billion commitment to spend down the endowment by 2045.
Sources
- Fortune — Buffett’s 2026 donation announcement, family foundation allocations, and historical context on the relationship deterioration
- BBC — Confirmation of the Gates Foundation donation cessation and total historical giving figures
- CNBC — Buffett’s direct quotes calling Gates’ Epstein ties “distasteful” and his 2034 giving timeline
- Reuters — Buffett’s statement on his children distributing his fortune and family foundation giving amounts
- The New York Times — Details of the 2026 donation structure and family foundation recipients
