Billionaire Warren Buffett ends two-decade Gates Foundation donations after Epstein fallout

The announcement came as Buffett revealed he would donate approximately $6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four charitable foundations managed by his family, excluding the Gates Foundation for the first time since making his landmark pledge in 2006.

Donation redirected to family foundations

According to Buffett's statement issued on Tuesday, the 95-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman will distribute around 12 million Class B Berkshire Hathaway shares among four family-run foundations overseen by his children Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett.

The recipients include the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

Notably absent from this year's donation announcement was the Gates Foundation, which had received more than $47 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock since Buffett pledged in a 2006 letter to donate shares throughout his lifetime.

During the same period, Buffett donated more than $17 billion worth of stock to his family's four foundations.

"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," Buffett said in the statement.

Decision follows Gates-Epstein row

The move comes after renewed public attention on Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates following the release of files by the US Department of Justice in February concerning Jeffrey Epstein.

Although Gates has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, the documents reportedly included photographs of Gates with Epstein and women whose identities were redacted, along with emails involving Epstein and Gates Foundation staff.

Reuters reported that Buffett and Gates, once close friends frequently seen together at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meetings in Omaha, had not spoken since the Epstein files became public. Buffett confirmed this in an interview with CNBC in March.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Buffett was awaiting the outcome of an independent review by law firm WilmerHale into the Gates Foundation's links with Epstein before deciding whether to continue his financial support.

The law firm declined to comment.

Gates Foundation responds

Responding to Buffett's decision, the Gates Foundation expressed appreciation for his longstanding support.

"The Gates Foundation is grateful to Warren Buffett for his decades of support for our work," the organisation said in a statement.

The foundation also said it remains financially secure due to a $200 billion commitment from Bill Gates, which is intended to support its operations until its planned closure in 2045.

Berkshire Hathaway did not respond to requests for additional comment.

Questions over Buffett's original pledge

When Buffett announced his commitment in 2006, he instructed the Gates Foundation to spend his donations rather than preserve them as an endowment, saying it could rely on his pledge to "immediately and permanently expand its activities."

Ray Madoff, a law professor at Boston College and author of The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy, said it remains unclear whether Buffett was legally obligated to continue those donations.

"A promise to make a gift in the future is not legally binding unless you get consideration," Madoff said.

"The one thing that makes Buffett's letter different is his saying, you can rely on my gift to expand operations. That could create a claim for the Gates Foundation if it relied on Buffett's promise to its detriment."

Gates recounts meetings with Epstein

During testimony before Congress last month, Gates said he first met Epstein in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution and four years after the financier entered a controversial non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors.

Gates said their meetings centred on potential philanthropic initiatives but yielded no results and ended by December 2014.

He also stated that Epstein later became aware of his marital infidelity and attempted to use that information to pressure him into renewing contact.

Gates has repeatedly expressed regret over his association with Epstein, denied spending time with Epstein's abuse victims and said he never witnessed any criminal conduct by the financier.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, one month after his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.

New York City's medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Family foundations receive latest Berkshire shares

Buffett has now donated well over half of his Berkshire Hathaway holdings since beginning his philanthropic programme.

Before the latest contribution, he owned nearly 14 percent of Berkshire Hathaway and had an estimated net worth of $147 billion, according to Forbes.

The latest allocation includes 9 million Class B shares for the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 1 million shares each for the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation supports reproductive health programmes.

The Sherwood Foundation focuses on Nebraska-based charities and early childhood education.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation works on global hunger, conflict mitigation and combating human trafficking, while the NoVo Foundation supports initiatives for marginalised girls, women and Indigenous communities.

Bill Gates stepped down from Berkshire Hathaway's board in 2020 after serving for 16 years.

Buffett resigned as a trustee of the Gates Foundation in 2021 following Bill and Melinda French Gates' divorce announcement and later indicated that his donations to the foundation would end after his death.