Buffett Makes Annual Donation to Bill Gates Foundation
By Steven Norton – Jul 7, 2012 12:00 PM
GMT+0800
Warren Buffett, the billionaire who pledged to donate most of
his wealth to charity, contributed stock valued at $1.52 billion in
his annual gift to the foundation created by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
co-founder Bill Gates.
Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire
Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), donated about 18.4 million of his company’s
Class B shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according
to a filing issued yesterday. The shares closed at $82.54 in New
York.
Enlarge image Buffett Donates $1.5 Billion in Annual Gift to Gates
Foundation
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of
Berkshire Hathaway, right, jokes with Microsoft’s Bill Gates as
they play bridge in Omaha, Neb. Photographer: Nati Harnik/AP
Photo
Buffett, a trustee of the foundation, is the third-richest man
in the world, with a net worth of about $46 billion, according to
the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the wealthiest
people. He has campaigned to promote charitable giving.
“I urge people to unbutton their wallet, pull out a check, reach
into their purse, whatever it takes,” Buffett, 81, said last year
in a YouTube video. “You will find that when you give a dollar and
something of yourself, a lot more than a dollar comes out the other
end.”
Buffett announced plans in 2006 to donate 10 million Class B
shares to the Gates Foundation and made an initial gift of 500,000
shares. He said he’d release 5 percent of the remaining balance of
the stock each year. That means each donation includes fewer shares
than the year before.
The Berkshire executive said in a 2006 letter that he expected
the value of the shares to rise “in an irregular manner, by an
amount that more than compensates for the decline in the number of
shares that will be distributed.” The B shares were split 50-1 in
2010.
Gates Foundation
The Gates Foundation supports organizations throughout the world
aimed at improving education initiatives, enhancing health care and
reducing poverty. Gates, 56, is the world’s second- richest man
behind Carlos Slim, the Bloomberg index shows. A Berkshire
director, Gates has joined Buffett in promoting the Giving Pledge,
a push to encourage wealthy people to donate most of their fortunes
to charity.
Following is a summary of Buffett’s stock donations to the Gates
Foundation.
============================================================
Year Stock Value
============================================================ 2012
$1.52 billion 2011 $1.48 billion 2010 $1.6 billion 2009 $1.25
billion 2008 $1.8 billion 2007 $1.76 billion 2006 $1.6 billion
from bloomberg