WASHINGTON: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he is resigning as a trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and has donated half his wealth to philanthropy since pledging 15 years ago to give away his fortune from running Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett, 90, said in statement he has been an “inactive trustee” for years at the foundation, but fully supported Chief Executive Mark Suzman. He did not explain why he is resigning, while noting he has given up all directorships outside Berkshire, reducing his workload.
Buffett also announced a new donation of more than $4.1 billion, comprising nearly 15.2 million Berkshire Class “B” shares, to the Gates Foundation and four family charities, part of his pledge to give away 99% of his net worth.
He has since 2006 donated more than $41.5 billion of Berkshire shares, including $32.7 billion to the Gates Foundation. The overall total is now equivalent to about $100 billion as Berkshire’s stock price has risen. “Over many decades I have accumulated an almost incomprehensible sum simply by doing what I love to do,” Buffett said. “Society has a use for my money: I don’t.”
Founded in 2000, the Gates Foundation focuses on combating poverty, disease and inequity, spending $54.8 billion in its first two decades. Its future has been uncertain since its namesake co-founders said last month they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage.
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In an email to Gates Foundation employees, Suzman said he has discussed with Buffett and the Gates how to strengthen governance and decisionmaking, and planned to share more information in July. “I am fully committed to following [Buffett’s] guidance to ensure we are the best possible stewards of his, Bill, and Melinda’s resources,” Suzman said.
In statements released by the foundation, Bill Gates said he was grateful for his “enduring friendship” with Buffett and that “we will always have a deep sense of accountability” to him. Melinda Gates said Buffett’s teachings will help “chart a way forward.”
Buffett’s donations also go to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late first wife, and charities run by his children Howard, Susan and Peter: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the Novo Foundation. Had Buffett not made his donations, his fortune would roughly equal that of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person according to Forbes magazine.
Bill Gates and Buffett also pioneered ‘The Giving Pledge,’ where more than 200 people like Michael Bloomberg, Larry Ellison, Carl Icahn, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal have committed at least half their fortunes to philanthropy.
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