Warren Buffett breaks 20-year tradition, pauses donation to Gates Foundation amid Epstein Files probe
Warren Buffett has reportedly paused the tradition of mid-year donation to Gates foundation, instead choosing to wait for investigation report on the orgaisation's probable link
Warren Buffett has reportedly paused the tradition of mid-year donation to Gates foundation, instead choosing to wait for investigation report on the orgaisation's probable link to sex offender Jeffery Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reported. Notably, this is the first time in 20 years that the investor has decided to pause his donation to the Gates Foundation. Warren Buffett Delays Donation Decision Until the end of 2026 The 95-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman is understood to be holding off on his annual giving decision until later in 2026. The Wall Street Journal also reported, citing officials familiar with the development that the announcement of Buffett's donation to Gates Foundation could coincide with his traditional Thanksgiving letter to shareholders and the public. Also Read | Warren Buffett may stop donating to Gates Foundation after Epstein saga Warren Buffett has, for years, transferred billions of dollars worth of Berkshire shares to the Gates foundation each June or early July, a practice rooted in the "lifetime" pledge he made when he deepened his philanthropic partnership with the organisation founded by Bill and Melinda Gates.
Law firm review into Epstein ties expected this summer The Gates Foundation has engaged law firm WilmerHale to conduct a comprehensive review of its historical connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Warren Buffett, along with several individuals close to him, has reportedly been in direct communication with senior leadership of Gates Foundation, including chief executive Mark Suzman, in an effort to better understand the nature of the Epstein ties. Decades of Giving to Gates Foundation, Now Under a Pause Between 2006 and 2025, Warren Buffett reportedly contributed approximately $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, typically transferring tranches of Berkshire Hathaway shares around the middle of each calendar year. Buffett formally stepped down as a foundation trustee in 2021, shortly after Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in 2024, Warren Buffett had indicated that the Gates Foundation would receive no further funding from his estate after his death. That same year, Melinda French Gates departed the organisation she had co-founded, choosing instead to focus on her own independent philanthropic ventures.
It is to be noted that Warren Buffet's decision on whether to continue to donate to Gates foundation would not impact his other philanthropic deed, which include foundations run by his three children as well as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named in honour of his first wife. Friendship with Gates strained since Epstein files release Warren Buffett's longstanding friendship with Bill Gates has reportedly come under considerable strain following the public release of the Justice Department's files relating to the Epstein case, Wall Street Journal reported. During a March interview with CNBC, Buffett revealed that he had not spoken with Gates since the files were made public, adding that he intended to wait and assess what further information emerged before finalising his usual giving decision in late June. The strain in the relationship was further underscored during a deposition before the House Oversight Committee in mid-June, when Gates told lawmakers that his last conversation with Buffett had taken place in January, prior to the release of the Epstein files. According to a transcript of that interview, Bill Gates, 70, told the committee: "We talked about my health challenges and some other things." Gates absent from Berkshire's annual meeting for first time in years In early May 2026, Bill Gates did not attend Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting, an event held by the company Warren Buffett led for decades and on whose board Gates had served until 2020.
The BriefWire