Warren Buffett has donated more than half his fortune to the Gates Foundation and 4 family foundations. Take a closer look.
- Warren Buffett has donated more than half his wealth to five foundations since 2006.
- He's gifted Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and four of his family's foundations.
Warren Buffett has given more than half his vast fortune to five foundations since 2006.
The 94-year-old investor is worth $145 billion thanks to a 15% stake in his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. That's despite donating 56% of his Berkshire shares so far — worth $55 billion based on when they were received.
In honor of his late wife Susan, Buffett pledged to give more than 99% of his fortune to philanthropy, and has been making large annual donations for nearly two decades now.
Those yearly gifts have gone to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four of his family's foundations: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.
Buffett has celebrated the past two Thanksgivings by gifting additional shares to his three children's foundations. He's also revealed that upon his death, his remaining riches will be placed in a charitable trust controlled by them, while the Gates Foundation won't receive anything.
Here's a closer look at the five foundations that Buffett's been supporting for close to two decades:
1. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, founded by the Microsoft cofounder and his ex-wife, is one of the world's largest philanthropic organizations. The trust managing its endowment held about $75 billion in net assets at the end of December, its latest annual report shows.
The Gates Foundation's website shows it deployed $7 billion toward causes such as eliminating polio and malaria, reducing poverty, and improving gender equality in 2022.
2. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
Buffett formed the Buffett Foundation in 1964, then renamed it the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation after his first wife died in 2004.
The foundation's chair is Buffett's daughter, Susie. It has funded scholarships for college students in Buffett's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska for some five decades, and counts women's reproductive health among its top priorities.
It brought in about $1.3 billion last year from donations, dividends, interest, asset sales, and other income sources, its latest IRS return shows. It disbursed about $700 million in gifts, grants, and charitable contributions.
3. The Sherwood Foundation
The Sherwood Foundation's website says it works to "make Nebraska a more equitable place to live, work, learn, and play."
The organization's focus areas include food security, early childhood education, community building, and restorative justice.
It brought in $503 million of revenue last year, and made $197 million in contributions, gifts, and grants, per its latest IRS return.
4. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation focuses on food security, conflict mitigation, public safety, and combating human trafficking.
Buffett's elder son, Howard, is the organization's chairman and CEO, and the likely successor as Berkshire chairman upon his father's death.
He's given large sums to Ukraine and traveled there several times since Russia's invasion in early 2022 to help with the nation's humanitarian crisis.
The foundation took in $378 million last year and distributed $458 million in gifts, grants, and contributions to charities, filings show.
5. NoVo Foundation
Buffett's younger son, Peter, and his wife, Jennifer, are co-presidents of NoVo Foundation. Its focus areas include female empowerment and supporting Indigenous communities.
The organization brought in $308 million last year and disbursed $195 million in gifts, grants, and contributions, filings show.
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