Warren Buffet Donates Shares Worth $5.3 Billion To Charity

The oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett announced the donation of $5.3 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities.

Buffet plans to donate 13 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway, with the Gates family receiving 9.93 million shares valued at $4 billion. Overall, he has donated $43 billion of Berkshire shares to the foundation.

He is also donating 9.93 lakh Class B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation, named after his late first wife. Buffet had created this foundation to focus on healthcare and education.

Continuing his tradition, Buffet is donating 6.95 lakh shares each to the charities led by his children: the Howard G. Buffet Foundation led by Howard, the Sherwood Foundation led by Susan, and the NoVo Foundation led by Peter.

Buffet, 93, plans to give over 99% of the fortune he has built in Berkshire to a trust overseen by his children, according to an arrangement laid out in a November letter. He has given away more than half of his Berkshire stock since 2006 and still owns close to one-seventh of the company's outstanding shares.

According to Forbes' list of America's biggest givers, Buffet is likely the largest philanthropist, with his lifetime giving exceeding $56 billion.