Warren Buffett is giving away $6 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock today
The Oracle of Omaha is making his largest donation yet, giving away millions of shares to five charities
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Renowned investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett is donating shares worth $6 billion of his company to charities of his choosing, marking his largest single donation ever.
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Buffett is giving away a total of about 12.36 million shares of the company’s Class B stock to five charities on Monday. He’s donating about 9.4 million shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which he said he’ll stop giving to after he dies. Another 943,384 shares are going to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. His children’s foundations, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation, will each receive 660,366 shares. Buffett made the announcement late Friday.
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Buffett now owns nearly 200,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway — which owns companies like GEICO, Duracell, and Dairy Queen — after his most recent donation. The company’s Class B shares were worth $485.68 apiece when the market closed on Friday.
In total, Buffett has given away over $60 billion. He started donating some of his wealth in 2006. Buffett is the fifth-richest man in the world, according to Forbes.
In his announcement, Buffett said, “Nothing extraordinary has occurred at Berkshire; a very long runway, simple and generally sound decisions, the American tailwind and compounding effects produced my current wealth.”
Buffett famously committed last year to giving away 99.5% of his wealth to charity after his death. His children will decide how the money is distributed.
In May, Buffett announced he would be stepping down as the head of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025. The company’s stock fell nearly 6% after the announcement.