USA TODAY International Edition
Buffett following through on fortune promises
Investor donates shares worth $ 3.17B to five foundations, lifting 10- year total to $ 27.54B
When Warren Buffett announced in 2006 that he would gradually give away the majority of his fortune to charity, he wasn’t kidding.
The billionaire investor just donated another 18.6 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway worth $ 3.17 billion to five different foundations.
That puts his total charitable contribution to the organizations at $ 27.54 billion in just over 10 years.
The five foundations receiving donations are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.
The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is worth more than $ 70 billion and is ranked as the world’s second- richest person, just behind Bill Gates, according to Forbes magazine.
Buffett has pledged to make annual gifts of stock to the foundations throughout his lifetime and beyond.
“Mr. Buffett intends to have all of his Berkshire shares given to philanthropy through annual gifts that will be completed 10 years after his estate is settled,” according to a statement released by Berkshire Hathaway.
In addition to his own contributions, Buffett joined with Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010 to launch the Giving Pledge initiative.
This initiative seeks to address society’s most pressing problems by asking the “world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back.”
The initiative started with 40 pledgers in the U. S. and has now grown to 170 pledgers from 21 countries.