Buffet to give nearly $31 billion to Gates foundation (Wizbang Pop!)

Warren Buffets gets visited by three ghosts...

In an interview with Fortune magazine, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett announced he will give nearly $31 billion -- most of his wealth -- to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The value of Mr. Buffet's gift of 10 million shares is currently worth about $30.7 billion based on Friday's market closing price of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Mr. Buffet will also contribute shares to four family nonprofit organizations. In all he will donate about 85% of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to charity.

Mr. Gates, a member of Berkshire Hathaway's board, released a statement thanking Mr. Buffet for his generosity.

"We are awed by our friend Warren Buffett's decision to use his fortune to address the world's most challenging inequities, and we are humbled that he has chosen to direct a large portion of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," said Mr. Gates in a news release from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "The impact of Warren's generosity will not be fully understood for decades. As we move forward with the work, we do so with a profound sense of responsibility. Working with Warren and with our partners around the world, we have a tremendous opportunity to make a positive difference in people's lives."

According to the Fortune article, Mr. Buffett's decision to start giving his fortune to charity while he is still alive was driven by the death of his wife, Susan, in 2004. Buffett says that she "would really have stepped on the gas," for charitable giving.

Mongabay

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Comments (1)

I am hoping that Buffett's ... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by Akuttan | June 28, 2006 10:49 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Akuttan:

I am hoping that Buffett's gift inspires other wealthy people not to think small anymore. There are ways we can help build new creative solutions--to solve world problems. There are enough wealthy people now in the world to truly make a difference to solving perhaps not all of them --but enough critical ones to get us through this next century. See my blog http://everyoneprofitsolutions.blogspot.com/
for my further thoughts on the gift.