Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has stated that donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will stop after his death.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has announced that upon his passing, almost his entire fortune will be transferred to a charitable trust managed by his three children.
Buffett, who is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway and owns nearly $130 billion in the holding company’s stock, will turn 94 in August.
In a Washington Post interview published on Saturday, the billionaire revealed that his substantial donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) will cease after his death. “The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” he said.
Since 2006, when Buffett committed to giving away portions of his wealth to charity, the BMGF has received $39.3 billion from him, according to its website. As part of the latest round of donations, announced by Berkshire Hathaway on Friday, the foundation established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his ex-wife will receive another $4 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares.
The BMGF was established in 2000 and has become one of the world’s largest charitable organizations. The foundation states that its primary objectives are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty globally.
Buffett, who has already donated over half of his Berkshire Hathaway shares, has indicated that donations to four other foundations – with which he has collaborated over the past two decades – will also continue only during his lifetime.
After Buffett’s death, his funds will be transferred to a trust overseen by his two sons and daughter, who will exclusively determine how to utilize the funds for philanthropic purposes, according to the investor.
“I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100% trust in how they will carry things out,” he said.
Susie Buffett, who is 71, and Howie Buffett, 69, already lead their own charitable foundations. They are also both members of the Berkshire Hathaway board. The billionaire’s youngest son, Peter Buffett, 66, is a music composer.
Buffett told the Wall Street Journal that he now desires his wealth to “be used to help the people that haven’t been as lucky as we have been. There’s eight billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1% or something. There’s lots of ways to help people.”