
Not being satisfied with last year’s $2.6 billion donation to charity, he topped it by giving a record $2.8 billion to set a new personal philanthropy donation record. The massive donation went to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with several other charities as part of his yearly giving pledge. Buffett raised money earlier this year for the GLIDE Foundation by auctioning off a luncheon on eBay which raised over $2 million.
The donation came at a cost to his current rank of the wealthiest people in the world. The $2.8 billion loss of assets dropped him a place to number 4 of the list, a spot he had recently regained. His net worth dropped from $65.9 billion to $63.1 billion according to Forbes. Buffett made the donation by giving away 21.7 million shares of his Berkshire Hathaway class B stock to the charities. Those shares had a value of $128.98 per share when the stock market closed on Monday.
Buffett made the following donations this year:
- He gave 16.59 million shares worth $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works on many issues such as poverty, schools and improving birth control technology.
- He gave 1.7 shares worth $215 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, a non-profit which was named after his late wife that provides a number of scholarships for education.
- He gave 1.2 million shares worth $150 million to the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which helps solve conflicts and provide food to people in developing countries.
- He gave 1.2 million shares worth $150 million to the Sherwood Foundation, which helps with education and social-justice issues in Nebraska.
- He gave 1.2 million shares worth $150 million to the NoVo Foundation, which works to establish equality for women.
Buffett gave most of the money to his good friend Bill Gate’s foundation. The others were family endeavors. Susan Thompson Buffett was a foundation set up in the name of his first wife and the other three receiving donations are all run by his children.
(Photo courtesy of DonkeyHotey)