Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has donated US$2.86 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to five charities, continuing to fulfill a pledge to give away part of his wealth to philanthropic causes, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Advertisement
“Some of the projects we fund will fail”, the Gateses wrote in a message on their website.
This time he beat previous year’s record by donating greater than $2.86 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stocks on Wednesday.
The bulk of the donations-14,968,423 shares of Class B shares-went to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded in 1994 by Microsoft Corp.co-founder and Mr. Buffett’s friend Bill Gates and his wife, according to a regulatory filing. He’s now made a huge donation 11 years in a row.
The contributions by Buffett, 85, leave him with about 18 percent of Berkshire’s value, worth about $64.5 billion, and about 32 percent of its shareholder votes.
While he is known for looking for a margin of safety with Berkshire’s investments and often faults himself when his stock wagers sour, Buffett is more tolerant of bets going bad in philanthropy.
Among other donations were 1.5 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.
He also gave Class B Berkshire shares to his own foundation and to the foundations run by each of his three children.
Advertisement
The billionaire’s eldest son Howard Buffett, CEO and Chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Charitable Foundation, seek to improve agriculture in conflict zones and has also promoted efforts involving risk. The NoVo Foundation, headed by son Peter and his wife, Jennifer, works with women’s and girls’ rights advocates.
