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June 29 EST: Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is giving away another slice of his empire—this time worth $6 billion. It’s the largest single-year gift since he began his structured giving campaign nearly two decades ago.
The Structure of a Legacy
Announced Friday, Buffett’s donation takes the form of 12.4 million Class B shares, most of which—9.4 million shares valued around $4.6 billion—will go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. The remaining stock will be distributed among four Buffett family-aligned foundations: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.
At $485.68 per share, the total package represents one of the most significant single-year philanthropic distributions in modern U.S. history.
Why It’s Happening Now
The timing is no coincidence. Buffett’s donations are part of a long-term unwind of his wealth, which he first committed to in 2006. With Friday’s announcement, he’s now transferred approximately $60 billion to the five organizations over the last 19 years.
These are not symbolic moves. The Gates Foundation alone is expected to receive a sum equivalent to more than half its annual $8 billion disbursement, according to Barron’s. This injection allows them to scale faster on global health, education, and poverty programs—exactly the kind of institutional lift Buffett has said private philanthropy should support.
Estate Strategy: Simplicity, Not Secrecy
Buffett has long telegraphed the logic behind his estate plan. In his public letter accompanying the 2025 gift, he reiterated that 99.5% of his wealth is earmarked for philanthropy—a statement he’s repeated with slight variations since the mid-2000s.
What remains after his death will be managed by his three children, who will have 10 years to allocate all remaining funds. Buffett has dismissed the idea of building a perpetual family foundation, favoring a finite timeline and flexible discretion over bureaucracy and institutional drift.
Buffett still controls about 198,117 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock, a stake valued at more than $145 billion. His Class B holdings have steadily diminished in line with his giving.
The Family Footprint
Each of the family foundations receiving funds operates with a distinct footprint. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after Buffett’s late wife, focuses heavily on reproductive health and education access. The Sherwood, Howard G., and NoVo Foundations support a range of initiatives—from global food security to criminal justice reform to local economic resilience in Nebraska and beyond.
While the Gates Foundation dominates headlines, Buffett’s family-aligned giving underscores a deliberate diversification of impact. It’s both an estate strategy and a philanthropic hedge—spreading capital across missions, leaders, and geographies.
The Long View
Buffett’s philanthropic model is notable not just for its size, but for its discipline. He avoids splashy pledges or trend-driven grants, favoring operationally mature institutions with defined governance. He isn’t trying to “solve” philanthropy. He’s just writing the checks.
In a time when billionaire giving is often tangled in brand strategy, political optics, or techno-utopian ambition, Buffett’s approach remains stubbornly boring—and incredibly effective.
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