By SCM Staff Writer – July 15, 2026
In a historic realignment of American philanthropy, billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett has officially excluded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from his annual multi-billion-dollar charitable contributions, bringing a decisive end to a monumental 20-year giving partnership.
The 95-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway announced that his remaining fortune—currently estimated at over $140 billion in Berkshire stock—will instead be funneled directly into a new charitable trust overseen entirely by his three children, Susan, Howard, and Peter Buffett.
The transition accelerates an exit strategy that dismantles one of the most powerful and influential alliances in the history of modern global development.
The seismic shift follows months of renewed scrutiny regarding Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ historical ties to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year detailing past communications and calendars between Mr. Gates and Epstein have reportedly strained the decades-long bond between the two titans.
While addressing the decision in an interview, Mr. Buffett did not mince words about his former partner’s actions, calling Mr. Gates’ association with Epstein “distasteful”.
“No one bats a thousand in the business of choosing people,” Mr. Buffett said on CNBC, though he sought to frame the restructuring as a vote of confidence in his children’s readiness to distribute his wealth. “I tell the three children that it is theirs, and it’s their responsibility to get it done well.”
To understand the magnitude of this fracture, one must look back to 2006. At the time, Mr. Buffett sent shockwaves through the philanthropic world by pledging the vast majority of his wealth to the Gates Foundation. Over the subsequent two decades, he funneled more than $47 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock into the charity, transforming it into a global health and anti-poverty behemoth.
The relationship, however, began to fray behind closed doors after Mr. Gates’ links to Epstein first became public. Though Mr. Gates has repeatedly apologized, characterizing the meetings as a “grave error in judgment” intended solely to raise money for his charitable efforts, the controversy has lingered.
Following the release of the Justice Department’s files, the Gates Foundation commissioned an independent review by the law firm WilmerHale to assess its historical exposure to Epstein—a review that Mr. Buffett reportedly monitored closely.
In 2021, Mr. Buffett resigned as a trustee of the Gates Foundation, shortly after Bill and Melinda French Gates announced their divorce.
With the Gates Foundation removed from the fold, Mr. Buffett’s latest annual contribution of $6 billion in Berkshire stock was divided among four family-linked entities: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (named after his late first wife), and three foundations individually operated by his children.
Mr. Buffett has also significantly compressed his timeline for divesting his entire estate. Rather than allowing his assets to be distributed over a decade following his death, he wants all remaining Berkshire shares to be systematically cleared out by December 31, 2034.
This means the family-managed trust will need to distribute upwards of $17 billion annually, catapulting his children’s charities into the topmost tier of global philanthropy.
The decision is as much a concession to time as it is to philosophy. Susie Buffett, his eldest child, will be nearly 81 by the end of 2034.
“It’s not just a question of mortality,” Mr. Buffett noted of his accelerated timeline. “It’s a question of keeping your marbles.”
For its part, the Gates Foundation remains highly capitalized. In a statement, chief executive Mark Suzman expressed gratitude for Mr. Buffett’s “decades of support,” adding that the foundation maintains a position of robust financial strength, backed by a $200 billion commitment from Bill Gates to continue operations until its planned sunset in 2045.
