Buffett Donates $1.5B in Annual Gates Gift
Buffett Donates $1.5 Billion in Annual Gates Foundation Gift
Matthew Staver/Bloomberg
Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., attends the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Thursday, July 7, 2011.
Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., attends the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Thursday, July 7, 2011. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg
July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett, who is urging fellow billionaires to commit most of their wealth to philanthropy, gave away stock valued at about $1.5 billion in his annual gift to the foundation established by Bill Gates. Deirdre Bolton reports in today's Movers and Shakers on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
Warren Buffett, who is urging fellow billionaires to commit most of their wealth to philanthropy, gave away stock valued at about $1.5 billion in his annual gift to the foundation established by Bill Gates.
The donation of 19.3 million Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) Class B shares was made today, according to a filing. The shares closed at $77.77 today on the New York Stock Exchange.
Buffett has pledged the majority of his holdings to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and to charities run by his three children and one named after his first wife, Susan Thompson Buffett, who died in 2004. His chosen philanthropies combat poverty and disease, fund U.S. education initiatives and promote access to abortions.
“Intelligent charity, big-time charity should tackle things where it’ll fail,” Buffett, 80, said at a press conference in Bangalore in March. “If you succeed in everything you’re doing in charity, you’re attempting things that are too easy.”
Buffett said in 2006 when he pledged 10 million B shares to the Gates Foundation, that he’d release 5 percent of the remaining balance every year, meaning each installment includes fewer shares than the prior award. Buffett, the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire, said he expected appreciation of the stock to compensate for the diminishing number of shares. The stock had a 50-1 split early last year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brooke Sutherland in New York at bsutherland5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net
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