In 2006, Warren Buffett pledged $36.1 billion in stock to the Gates Foundation; by 2026 he had given more than $47 billion
In June 2006, Warren Buffett pledged 10 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway to the Gates Foundation, then worth about $36.1 billion, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The pledge was one of five he made that year, and the total was worth more than $43.5 billion at the time.
The pledge was set to continue as long as Bill or Melinda Gates was alive and active in the foundation, the Chronicle said. The number of shares Buffett gave each year grew after a 2010 stock split.
By June 2023, Buffett had given the Gates Foundation nearly $39.3 billion, the Chronicle tallied. Across five different foundations, Buffett had given nearly $50.7 billion in total.
In July 2026, Buffett, then 95, announced nearly $6 billion in Berkshire stock for his family’s foundations, according to Fortune. None of it went to the Gates Foundation, which had received his stock gifts every year since 2006. It was the first time in that stretch that Buffett left the foundation out.
He is donating 12 million Class B shares: 9 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and 1 million each to the Howard G. Buffett, NoVo and Sherwood foundations, Fortune said.
The Gates Foundation says Buffett’s gifts total “more than $47 billion,” and Fortune put the figure at about $48 billion. He gave it 9.4 million shares worth about $4.6 billion the year before.
Buffett also said he plans to give away all of his remaining Berkshire shares, worth about $140 billion, by Dec. 31, 2034. His statement cited his children’s ages and the unpredictability of life as reasons for the timeline, per InvestmentNews. It did not explicitly say why the Gates Foundation was left out.
The outlet noted that the relationship between the two men had worsened after the Justice Department’s January release of files on Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to people connected to Gates. Gates has not been accused of crimes, and he has said meeting Epstein was a “grave error in judgment,” Fortune reported.
The Gates Foundation said it “continues from a position of financial strength to advance our work through 2045,” Fortune said.
Not every large gift comes from a billionaire. Geoffrey Holt had no car and little furniture in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, and when he died in 2023, he left the town $3.8 million.
This story was originally published by Parade on Oct 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.