Billionaire Warren Buffett has been revered as a philanthropist throughout his career. He’s also one of over 240 of the world’s wealthiest who signed The Giving Pledge, which promises that he will give away the majority of his wealth throughout his lifetime to charitable causes.
Now, Buffett has hit a major milestone. During his annual charitable donations, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO and Chairman donated 10.45 million Class B shares of his company to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, worth an estimated $3.5 billion.
This brings Buffett’s total charitable donations to over $51 billion.
“Nothing extraordinary has occurred at Berkshire; a very long runway, simple and generally sound decisions, the American tailwind and compounding effects produced my current wealth,” Buffett said in a company release. “My will provides that more than 99% of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage.”
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Buffett estimates that his remaining A shares are valued at roughly $112 billion.
He also donated a total of 3.2 million additional shares to four different non-profits including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which was founded after the passing of Buffett’s wife.
Berkshire Hathaway had its annual shareholders meeting on May 6 this year, where Buffett mused about the business world and the future of finance with friend and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger.
During the meeting, Buffett expressed his disdain toward AI technology in the future of business.
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“When something can do all kinds of things, I get a little bit worried,” Buffett said. “Because I know we won’t be able to un-invent it and, you know, we did invent, for very, very good reason, the atom bomb in World War II.”
According to Bloomberg, Buffett’s net worth as of Friday afternoon was an estimated $113 billion.
