Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has halted new donations to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, weeks after details emerged about Bill Gates’ links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett said he had “irrevocably” committed in 2006 to donate Berkshire Hathaway shares to the foundation “throughout my lifetime,” but on Tuesday the Gates Foundation was left off the list of entities slated to receive billions of dollars in stock. The stock will instead be distributed among four foundations connected to members of the Buffett family.
The 95-year-old investor said he would dispose of his remaining Berkshire stock over the next eight years, adding that all remaining shares would ultimately be donated to the four foundations by December 31, 2034. He noted that mortality is unpredictable but stressed the timeline for completing the transfers.
Buffett’s decision follows public scrutiny of Gates’ association with Epstein. The Gates Foundation told the BBC it remained grateful for Buffett’s decades of support and that it continues from a position of financial strength to advance its work through 2045, supported by Bill Gates’ $200 billion commitment.
Gates testified before the House Oversight Committee in June, saying he was introduced to Epstein in 2011 with the premise that Epstein could raise billions for global health. He said he later realized meeting Epstein was a mistake and that he should never have met him. In the same year, Melinda French Gates resigned from the foundation she co-founded and later announced plans to donate $1 billion to women’s rights in the United States.
Buffett’s long involvement with the Gates Foundation has been a hallmark of his philanthropy. He helped launch the Giving Pledge in 2010 alongside Gates and Buffett, inviting ultra-wealthy individuals to commit to giving away the majority of their wealth. Over two decades, Buffett’s donations to the Gates Foundation have totaled about $47 billion, a figure highlighted in the context of this shift.
Gates reiterated that the Foundation remains financially robust and committed to its long-term goals, with Gates’ personal pledge framed as a cornerstone of the foundation’s funding. The announcement arrives amid broader questions about donor governance and the governance of high-profile philanthropic commitments, as donors reassess partnerships in light of public disclosures.
The development underscores how major donors manage giving schedules and how philanthropic structures may evolve when partners face intensified scrutiny and shifts within family-led giving vehicles.
