There are charitable donations – and then there is Warren E. Buffett’s charitable donation. Recently, Mr. Buffett distributed 17.5 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This is a gift valued at $2 billion based on the closing price recently. The gift was part of Buffett’s annual charitable giving that included gifts to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Buffett’s total donations this year were 22.9 million Class B shares.
Mr. Buffett committed, seven years ago, that he would give a total of $31 billion over time to the Gates Foundation. He planned to give the bulk of his massive fortune to the Gates Foundation and to four other philanthropies.
Together, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates have actually tried to persuade other wealthy Americans to give away a large chunk of their fortunes. They have created something called the Giving Pledge for this purpose.