Warren Buffet to Donate More than 3 Million to 5 Charities

Warren Buffet, the billionaire business magnate is not only known for his richness of wealth but also for his richness of heart and generosity, which is evident from his constant effort to support social and developmental causes across the world, recent being his decision to donate more than 3 million of his wealth to 5 charitable organisations. 

On Monday, Warren Buffett has announced his plans to donate $3.6 billion from the stock of Berkshire Hathaway to 5 charities. This is regarded as his largest charity gifts ever, while Walmart heir Jim Walton has given away $1.2 billion of the company’s shares to charities last week. Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus also announced that this weekend he is planning to gift his entire $4.5 billion fortune before he dies.

In a regulatory filing recently, the recipient of Walton’s gift was not disclosed, but the family members have regularly donated to the Walton Family Foundation. The foundation is working for the cause of education and the environment. 

The trend to donate the charities and causes is occurring across America amid debate over how best the richest Americans should use their wealth to help address the issues like income inequality and other economic imbalances across the world. 

Last week, a group rich businessman like George Soros and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes had called for a wealth tax to raise funds for fighting climate change and public health initiatives across the world. While Buffett has argued that they prefer to have entities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation oversee the charitable work.

Warren Buffett’s recent donation brings the total amount of stock he has donated to foundations to about $34 billion since he made a pledge in the year 2006 to give away all his fortune. The recipients of the latest amount include the Gates Foundation, as well as charities named after his late wife and ones run by his children.

Warren Buffett has spent more than five decades of his life in crafting Berkshire Hathaway into a company with a market value of more than half a trillion dollars, expanding his businesses from insurance to manufacturing. The success of Berkshire Hathaway, once made him the world’s richest man, though he has fallen back to fourth place now as he continues giving his fortune away.

According to the original 2006 plan, which was later modified by Buffet to incorporate the clause to donate all of the Berkshire stock within a decade after his passing away and after his estate is settled.

The billionaire investor has been a biggest supporter of Bill and Melinda Gates and their charitable endeavors. In the year 2006, Buffet also declared that he aimed for the stock donations to ramp up their foundation’s already impressive effectiveness addressing societal problems. 

Apart from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the latest donation of Buffet will go to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.