Table of Contents
Key Points
- Warren Buffett donates $6 billion in Berkshire shares to five foundations, continuing his multi-decade commitment to large-scale philanthropy.
- Kenya recently received $20 million from Buffett’s foundation to support its struggling public health system amid declining global aid.
- Buffett, 94, plans to give away 99.5% of his wealth and has already donated shares worth more than his 2006 net worth.
More than a month after giving the Kenyan government a Ksh3.8 billion ($20 million) grant, Warren Buffett, the world’s richest investor, has made another major donation, this time giving away about $6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares to five charitable foundations. It’s the latest chapter in his long history of giving.
The 94-year-old investor, who is currently the tenth-richest person in the world, said he plans to donate a total of 12.35 million Class B shares. Most of those shares, around 9.43 million, will go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, while the rest will be split among four other foundations: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife, and the Sherwood, Howard G. Buffett, and NoVo foundations, each run by one of his three children.
World’s richest investor plans to leave it all behind
Warren Buffett has spent nearly 20 years giving away most of his fortune. Since 2006, he’s donated Berkshire Hathaway shares valued at around $60 billion—more than he was worth when he first began this annual giving tradition. “The five foundations have received Berkshire B shares that had a value when received of about $60 billion, substantially more than my entire net worth in 2006,” he noted.
His commitment to giving isn’t new. In 2010, Buffett joined forces with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates to launch the Giving Pledge, encouraging fellow billionaires to donate the majority of their wealth to good causes. Today, Buffett says he has no debts and that his remaining Berkshire A shares are worth roughly $145 billion, over 99 percent of his total net worth. “My will provides that about 99.5 percent of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage,” he said.
Buffett’s $20 million bolsters Kenya health
Earlier this year, Kenya received a $20 million donation from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. The funds will go directly to the State Department of Medical Services to support the country’s strained healthcare system. The boost comes at a difficult time, Kenya’s public health services have been under pressure for years, worsened by declining foreign aid, especially after U.S. funding cuts during the Trump administration.
The contribution reflects Warren Buffett’s longstanding commitment to giving. Just a few months ago, the billionaire investor made news when he announced he would step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, handing the reins to his longtime deputy, Greg Abel. The announcement, made during the company’s annual meeting in Omaha on May 3, marked the close of an extraordinary chapter in Buffett’s career. Over more than six decades, he built Berkshire into a $1.05 trillion powerhouse.
Buffett’s wealth still places him among the ten richest people in the world, even after dropping from $159.7 billion in May to around $147 billion, according to Bloomberg. Despite market ups and downs this year, his fortune has held up, unlike many others, underlining both his staying power and his steady approach to giving.
Legacy beyond returns: Buffett’s giving
Warren Buffett’s track record at Berkshire is unmatched. Under his leadership, the company’s stock surged more than 5,500,000 percent between 1965 and the end of 2024, far outpacing the S&P 500. But numbers only tell part of the story. Buffett is admired not just for his investing skill, but for his fairness, humility, and clear values. He led a company that delivered an average annual gain of 19.8 percent in market value over nearly 60 years, building a portfolio that includes well-known brands like Geico, Dairy Queen, Coca-Cola, and American Express.
Throughout his career, Buffett has stayed true to his belief in using wealth to make a difference. Between 2006 and 2021, he served as a trustee of the Gates Foundation and gave roughly $36 billion to it by 2022, based on the value of the shares at the time of donation. With each gift, Buffett continues to show that his greatest legacy may not be measured in dollars, but in how he’s used them to help others.
