Warren Buffett, investor extraordinaire and the sixth richest man in the world with total wealth in excess of $110 billion, has donated nearly $758 million of Berkshire Hathaway stocks to four foundations run by his family.
The 92-year-old Buffett, who usually gives annual gifts to the same five charities every summer since 2006, was making a second major donation for the year. In June this year, he donated $4 billion worth of his wealth, which brought his total charity over the years to $48 billion.
The summer charity list includes Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as one of the recipients, but the Microsoft founder’s charity was missing in the recent donations. The Gates Foundation has received nearly $32 billion of Buffet’s donations ever since he pledged to give his wealth away to charities.
A Berkshire Hathaway filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed Buffett gave 1.5 million Class B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife, and 300,000 Class B shares to the three foundations run by his children – the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation.
In June, he gave 11 million Class B shares to the Gates Foundation, 1.1 million B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and 770,218 shares apiece to his children’s three foundations.
According to an AP report, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation has been a major supporter of abortion rights, making large gifts to Planned Parenthood and other groups. Susie Buffett, 69, uses her Sherwood Foundation to strengthen early childhood education and supports a number of projects around Buffett’s hometown of Omaha where she also lives. Howard’s foundation is helping farmers in impoverished nations produce more and working to end world hunger. The NoVo Foundation, started by Peter Buffett, works towards empowering women and girls worldwide through education, collaboration, and economic development to end violence against women.
Following the latest donations, Buffett still owns 15.5 percent of Berkshire’s stock and controls 31.4 percent of its voting power.