The rift between Warren Buffett and Bill Gates grows as Buffett annual skips donation to Gates Foundation for first time in 20 years

The rift between longtime friends Warren Buffett and Bill Gates may be growing wider. Buffett is reportedly planning (1) to skip his usual midyear donation to the Gates Foundation. If so, that would be the first time in 20 years that he has not given to the organization.

The Wall Street Journal reports (1) that Buffett hasn’t decided to cut ties with the Gates Foundation, but is waiting until later in the year to decide if he will give this year. That should give him time to review an ongoing external review of the organization’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. That’s expected to be finalized this summer.

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That review comes amid renewed attention to Gates’ relationship with Epstein. The tech founder has said he regretted his association with Epstein (2), but denied participating in any crimes at a town hall meeting earlier this month. He also acknowledged having had affairs (3) with two women while married and apologized to Gates Foundation staff for the mistakes that led to the controversy.

The lack of a mid-year donation is a big change from what Buffett said in 2006, when he told Bill and Melinda Gates he was (4)”irrevocably committing” (4) to make gifts of Berkshire shares to the foundation every year “throughout my lifetime.”

What Buffett’s billions have helped fund

Since 2006, Buffett has given approximately $48 billion (1) to the Gates Foundation. He has slowly been pulling back his own involvement in recent years, though. In 2021, he (5)stepped down (5) as a foundation trustee after Gates and Melinda French Gates announced plans for a divorce. And in 2024, he announced he would (6)not be leaving any money (6) in his will for the Foundation.

The Gates Foundation currently has an $89 billion endowment (7). It has focused much of its efforts on global health matters (8), particularly in Africa, with a special attention paid for infectious diseases and childhood mortality.

The foundation has been a major financial backer of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, whose efforts have helped reduce global polio cases (9) by more than 99% since 1988. And as a founding partner of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the foundation has helped support immunization (10) programs that have vaccinated more than 1.1 billion children and prevented nearly 19 million deaths.

In the U.S., the foundation has focused on improving high school graduation rates (11) and college access for low-income students, including funding 20,000 scholarships.

It is scheduled to end its work (12) in 2045.

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The Epstein review will shape Buffett’s next move

Buffett and Gates have been friends for years, but the revelation of Gates’ involvement with Epstein has strained the friendship.

Appearing on CNBC (13)in April (13), Buffett said he had not spoken with Gates since news of the relationship came out. “Until it gets cleared up … I just don’t think it makes sense to do a lot of talking,” he said.

Asked if he would continue to give money to the foundation at the time, Buffett said “I’ll wait and see what unfolds … I don’t have to make that decision today. And I haven’t made it today. … I’ve learned things I didn’t know about something for all these years.”

Buffett’s decision to delay this year’s gift doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll end two decades of giving. But with his estate already earmarked elsewhere and the foundation’s Epstein review still underway, one of the largest philanthropic partnerships in history is now facing its greatest uncertainty.

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Wsj (1), (2), (5); Reuters (3), (12); Berkshirehathaway (4); Fortune (6); Gatesfoundation (7), (8), (9), (10), (11); Cnbc (13)

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