Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett announced Wednesday he would resign as a trustee the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and that, with $4.1 billion in donations, he is halfway through his goal of donating his Berkshire Hathaway shares.
Buffett, now 90, is a Nebraska native known as “The Oracle of Omaha” for his success in investing. He serves as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational holding company that owns more than 60 companies, including Geico and Dairy Queen. According to Forbes, Buffett’s net worth was $105.3 billion as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
In 2006, Buffet pledged to distribute his Berkshire Hathaway shares, equivalent to 99 percent of his net worth, to charities. When he made the pledge in June 2006, Buffett had 474,998 shares and after his most recent donation he will have 238,624, said Buffett’s statement.
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“The easiest deed in the world is to give away money that will never be of any real use to you or your family. The giving is painless and may well lead to a better life for both you and your children,” said Buffett.
Over the past 16 years, Buffett’s donations have come in at a total of around $41 billion. The donations have gone to five organizations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.
Although he is listed as a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation trustee, Buffett said he has been an inactive member of the organization and has resigned the post along with his seats on other corporate boards besides Berkshire Hathaway. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, who are currently going through a divorce, are the only other trustees.
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They created the Giving Pledge, which asks people to donate more than half of their wealth, with Buffett, said CNBC.
“The CEO of [The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation] is Mark Suzman, an outstanding recent selection who has my full support. My goals are 100 percent in sync with those of the foundation, and my physical participation is in no way needed to achieve these goals,” said Buffett. Suzman works with a team of officers to run the foundation.
In addition to explaining his resignation and approach to philanthropy, Buffett included a defense of tax deductions for charitable donations in his statement.
“In my own case, the $41 billion of Berkshire shares I have donated to the five foundations has led to only about 40¢ of tax savings per $1,000 given,” he said. “That’s because I have relatively little income.”
Buffett’s wealth comes from tax-paying businesses rather than personal income, explained the statement. According to CNBC, Buffett’s Berkshire A shares hit a record high in 2021.
“Nevertheless, tax deductions are important to many – particularly to the super-rich – who give large amounts of cash or securities to philanthropy,” Buffett added. “It is fitting that Congress periodically revisits the tax policy for charitable contributions, particularly in respect to donors who get ‘imaginative.’”