Warren Buffett, the 93-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has revised the future distribution of his significant fortune. In an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal, Buffett disclosed that his will has been updated to cease donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation upon his death. Instead, his wealth will be directed to a new charitable trust overseen by his three children.
“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Buffett stated, as quoted in the report.
Buffett explained that he has made multiple amendments to his will, driven by his strong belief in his children’s values and their ability to manage his philanthropic legacy. Each of his children already operates a charitable organization.
“I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100% trust in how they will carry things out,” Buffett affirmed, as quoted in the report.
Historically, Buffett had pledged that more than 99% of his estate would support the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family-related charities: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.
Livemint could not independently verify this news development.
Despite the changes in his will, Buffett continues to donate to the Gates Foundation during his lifetime.
On Friday, Berkshire Hathaway announced Buffett’s conversion of around 9,000 Class A shares into over 13 million Class B shares. Of these, approximately 9.3 million shares will go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, with the remainder allocated to the four Buffett family charities.
“Warren Buffett has been exceedingly generous to the Gates Foundation through more than 18 years of contributions and advice,” said Mark Suzman, the foundation’s chief executive, to CNN. “We are deeply grateful for his most recent gift and contributions totalling approximately $43 billion to our work.”
Last year, Buffett donated around $870 million to his family’s four charities and approximately $750 million to them in 2022.
With these newly announced donations, Buffett retains ownership of 207,963 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, valued at roughly $128 billion.