American investor and businessman Warren Buffett made another significant donation to charity on Friday, confirming his reputation as the largest philanthropist in the world. Buffet donated $5.3 billion in shares of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway to five charities.
The biggest donation, consisting of around $4 billion, went to the Gates Foundation. Founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, the foundation aims to “enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the world, and to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S.”
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation will receive $400 million. This foundation, which makes charitable efforts in healthcare and education, was founded by Buffet and his late wife.
Lastly, the foundations of Buffet’s three children – Peter, Howard Graham, and Susan Alice – will each get Berkshire Hathaway stock worth $285 million.
After making the donation, Buffet had an interview with The Wall Street Journal in which he detailed how he plans to give away his fortune after his death, something he has pledged to do in 2006. According to Buffet, his wealth will go into a charitable trust controlled by his children, and they will unanimously have to decide how to disperse it.
“It should be used to help the people that haven’t been as lucky as we have been,” Buffett told The Wall Street Journal. “There’s eight billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1% or something. There’s lots of ways to help people.”