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Buffett gives record charity donation to Gates foundation

Buffett gives record $2.1 billion donation to Gates foundation

Bloomberg

11:20 p.m. CDTJuly 15, 2014

NEW YORK — Warren Buffett, the second-richest person in the United States, made his largest single charitable contribution ever when he donated $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The chairman and chief executive officer of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. gave 16.6 million Class B shares Monday in an annual gift to the foundation, where he is a trustee, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The donation beat last year’s record gift of $2 billion, when he gave 17.5 million shares. The stock has gained 8.8 percent this year through the close of trading yesterday to $128.98.

Buffett, 83, has vowed through the Giving Pledge initiative to give away most of his net worth, which is more than $60 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, a daily ranking of the world’s wealthiest people. Along with Microsoft co-founder Gates, the world’s richest man, he has urged other ultra-wealthy people to give away their money.

“I will give 99 percent, but the other 1 percent is way more than enough,” Buffett said June 9 at the Edison Electric Institute annual convention in Las Vegas. “I have never given a dollar that caused me to give up something I wanted to buy.”

Most of Buffett’s donated money goes to the Gates Foundation, which focuses on hunger, poverty and education. He earmarked 10 million Class B Berkshire shares for the Seattle- based charity in 2006 and gives 5 percent of the remaining total each year. The shares were split 50-1 in 2010.

By Abbe Sparks

Abbe Sparks is the Founder of Abbe Sparks Media Group & Socially Sparked News. A social entrepreneur, she is a social media and content influencer who has been covering the entertainment, music, tech and advocacy sectors for over 25 years. A member of US Press Association, she has written for many online and print publications including the UK's Blues Matters Magazine, Big City Rythm & Blues & her former column 'Abbe's Sparks' for RFPalooza. You can also find her stories on Medium & Tumbler. Twitter: @asparks01

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