By Andrew Bary
Warren Buffett has been the biggest outside donor to Bill Gates' philanthropic work for the past 20 years, giving about $48 billion. Soon, he'll say whether he's going to keep making an annual contribution after he learned more about Gates' ties to sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein in publicly released emails earlier this year.
The Gates Foundation has been the largest recipient of Buffett's yearly giving since he began donating his Berkshire Hathaway stock in 2006.
Buffett told CNBC in an interview in late March that he hadn't made up his mind about continuing the Gates foundation gifts.
Buffett was asked by CNBC anchor Becky Quick: "If you don't give the money to the Gates Foundation, are you in violation of the pledge that you made? Or if you do give the money, are you condoning the behavior that has taken place?
He replied: "I don't have to make that decision today," Buffett added that "I'll wait and see what unfolds. The stock isn't going anyplace."
There was no immediate comment from Buffett or the Gates Foundation.
Buffett told CNBC he hadn't talked to Gates "since the whole thing was unveiled" Since 2006, Buffett has donated about $48 billion to the Gates foundation, and it has been the largest recipient of his annual giving program.
Buffett and Gates had been close. Gates served on the Berkshire board for about 15 years until 2020.
Buffett was more interested in running Berkshire than giving away his fortune, and in 2006 he thought he found an ideal partner in the Gates Foundation, then co-chaired by Bill Gates and his former wife, Melinda Gates, to sop up lots of his annual giving for what Buffett viewed as worthwhile causes.
Buffett, 95, makes his largest annual contribution of Berkshire stock every June and last year he gave away about $6 billion in Class B shares after converting them from A stock. About 75% of that 2025 contribution went to the Gates foundation, with the rest going to several Buffett family foundations. The contribution was announced on June 27 last year.
The formula for the annual June contribution is that Buffett gives away 5% less stock each year. That means this year's contribution could total about $5.5 billion with Berkshire's Class B shares trading around $495.
Prior to this year, Buffett said that the annual contributions to the Gates foundation would end after his death, and that his three children, who each run their foundations, would be responsible for giving away his fortune, almost entirely in Berkshire stock now worth about $145 billion, in about a decade after his death.
If Buffett doesn't make an annual contribution to the Gates foundation, it will be interesting to see if he gives more to his children's foundations. It would also leave a void at the Gates foundation, which gave away $8.5 billion in 2025, with the Buffett gift funding the bulk of the spending.
The Gates foundation has ample wherewithal to continue its giving program without any Buffett gifts given an endowment of $89 billion. Gates last year pledged to give away his wealth via the Gates foundation through 2045 and spend more than $200 billion.
Additional details about Gates' relationship with Epstein came to light earlier this year when the Justice Department released more files on the Epstein case. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Gates apologized to staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to Epstein.
Those revelations have meant more embarrassment for the 70-year-old Gates.
In reporting on Gates' recent testimony before Congress, The Wall Street Journal wrote last week that Epstein learned that Gates "had had affairs during his marriage and tried to leverage that information against the billionaire philanthropist,"
"Fallout from the revelations about Gates's behavior is now eroding efforts to protect his reputation. Gates was recently snubbed by Microsoft's annual CEO summit and by the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, which he has attended for years," the WSJ reported.
The Gates foundation said in March that it would conduct an "external review to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein."
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 15, 2026 18:24 ET (22:24 GMT)
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