Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, announced he was donating $4 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and other charities. Warren Buffett had earlier pledged to donate his entire net worth to social causes.
Donations of $4 Billion will be in the form of shares owned by Buffet in Berkshire Hathaway. According to the company, Buffet is donating Class B shares worth $277.64 owned by him.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be allotted eleven million shares, while 1.1 million shares will go to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. STB foundation is named after Buffet’s late wife, Susan Thompson.
Along with that, 770,000 shares each to The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the Novo Foundation, managed by buffets children Howard, Susan and Peter.
Warren Buffett, born in Omaha, Nebraska, started his career in 1951 as an investment salesman at Buffett-Falk & Co. Later he joined Graham-Newman Corp as a security analyst.
As of June 2022, Warren Buffett is the world’s 5th wealthiest person, having a net worth of 113 billion dollars.
Warren Buffett is also the founder of The Giving Pledge, a campaign aimed at inspiring the wealthy people around the world to give at least half of their net worth to philanthropy during their lifetime or after death.
Various famous personalities such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates have pledged so far. As of now December 2021, 231 signatories from 28 countries have pledged at least half of their total wealth.
He had earlier said that his children will not inherit a significant portion of his wealth, as 99% of his total wealth is for philanthropic causes. Buffet once said, “I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing”
Other philanthropic activities of Warren Buffett
In 2006, he announced his plans to give away 83% of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
According to the details of the pledged, BMGF will receive 5% of its total wealth each July beginning from 2006. Pledge was on the condition that BMGF qualified for three requirements.
- Bill or Melinda Gates must be alive and active in BMGF,
- BMGF must continue to qualify as a charity,
- Each year BMGF must give away an amount equal to the prior year’s Berkshire gift plus the additional 5% of net assets as required of all US foundations.
