josh funk July 15, 2026 — 6:33 a.m. Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. TOTOTO Billionaire Warren Buffett omitted the Bill Gates Foundation from his annual donations this year after the Microsoft co-founder’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.
josh funk
Billionaire Warren Buffett omitted the Bill Gates Foundation from his annual donations this year after the Microsoft co-founder’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed. He will donate about $6 billion ($8.6 billion) to four foundations related to his own family, but did not mention Gates in his announcement.
Buffett also said in his statement that he wants all of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway shares, valued at more than $140 billion, to be donated to charity by the end of 2034. Previously, the plan was for his three children to distribute his remaining fortune within 10 years of the 95-year-old investor’s death.
“Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to all four foundations in one form or another by December 31, 2034,” Buffett said in a statement. “The goal is for the grants to grow annually for each of the three foundations managed by each of my children and for the annual grant to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation to grow at a somewhat faster rate.”
Buffett did not immediately respond to questions. CNBC said Buffett was scheduled to give the network an exclusive interview on the topic Wednesday morning.
The Gates Foundation thanked Buffett for his donations in a statement and said the foundation remains in a strong financial position thanks to Gates’ promise to donate 99 percent of his remaining fortune to the charity, which he plans to close in 2045 after distributing the money.
“The Gates Foundation is grateful to Warren Buffett for his decades of support of our work. His gifts, totaling more than $47 billion, have helped us expand and fulfill the foundation’s mission of improving health and opportunity for people around the world,” the charity said in its statement.
Buffett’s latest gifts are roughly equal to last year’s donations
The majority of Buffett’s charitable donations (worth more than $61 billion) have gone to the Gates Foundation since he announced the plan to give away his fortune in 2006. He has been regularly donating blocks of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and the four foundations run by his three sons.
Buffett plans to donate about $4.5 billion in stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation this year and about $500 million in stock each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Novo Foundation, which are run by his children.
So the total amount of donations announced is similar to the roughly $6 billion in donations he made last summer, and Buffett’s family foundations received significantly more than in previous years, which would seem to explain the money that would have gone to the Gates Foundation.
Gates has denied any link to Epstein’s crimes.
Gates denies any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has not been charged with any crime. He said he only met with Epstein because he thought it could help him raise money for charitable causes.
Epstein, accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found dead in Manhattan federal prison in August 2019 and the New York City medical examiner later ruled his death a suicide.
Buffett already said in 2024 that he planned to cut off donations to the Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his fortune. The decision he announced will accelerate that plan.
The two billionaires were the best of friends.
Buffett and Gates used to be exceptionally close friends who talked often, played online bridge, and even went on vacation together. Gates also served on the board of Buffett’s conglomerate for years, and the legendary investor served on the board of the Gates Foundation. But Buffett told CNBC in March that he had not spoken to Gates for months since before the Epstein files were released in the fall of 2025.
In the past, Buffett defended Gates. Three years ago, Buffett interrupted a man who was presenting a resolution at Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meeting after he questioned Gates’ character because of his ties to Epstein. Peter Flaherty was arrested that day for trespassing even though he had been pre-approved to make the presentation. The charge was later dropped, but the incident led to a lawsuit, which is still pending in court.
Buffett can’t believe how many people Epstein fooled
Buffett told CNBC in March, “It amazes me that anyone can be so successful as a con artist,” but Epstein found a way to exploit the weaknesses of others. Buffett did not discuss Gates’ involvement, but said he does not want to get involved in anything that could be investigated later.
Gates recently discussed his ties to Epstein with his foundation staff. Gates appears several times in the Justice Department’s release of documents related to its investigation of the late financier. The Justice Department files include email correspondence between Gates and Epstein about philanthropic projects, calendar entries documenting the dates they met, and photographs of Gates at events the two men attended.
The foundation announced it hired someone in March to evaluate the foundation’s past engagement with Epstein and review its policies to examine any future philanthropic partnerships. Gates and the rest of the foundation’s board of directors expect to receive an update on that investigation sometime this summer.
Buffett told CNBC that he is surprised at how many rich and powerful people have been caught up in the Epstein scandal.
“I mean, here we had a guy who was a convicted guy, a sensational conman, and the percentage of people he defeated,” Buffett said. “I mean, if it was, he found his weakness. It could have been sex. It could have been power, it could have been, whatever. And I don’t see how anyone could have pulled it off.”
Buffett said he’s glad Epstein never came to Omaha, where he has lived for more than six decades. Buffett is considered by many to be the world’s greatest investor who built Berkshire over the years by purchasing insurance companies such as Geico, major utilities, manufacturers and well-known brands such as Dairy Queen and the BNSF railroad.
Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire in January after 60 years at the helm of the company, but remains chairman and largest shareholder. Greg Abel is now CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
AP
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