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The fallout from the Epstein files continues to shake the upper echelons of society as one of the world's richest men made a surprise change of plans.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has delayed his usual mid-year donation to the Gates Foundation pending an investigation into the foundation's connections with Jeffrey Epstein.
'Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034.'
Buffett, 95, announced on Tuesday that he intends to continue disposing of his Berkshire Hathaway fortune by way of donating shares to foundations associated with his family. He made no mention of the Gates Foundation, to which he has historically donated large sums of shares around this time of the year.
In 2025, for example, a similar announcement shows a donation of 9,000,000 shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
This marks a significant change in the destinations of Buffett's remaining shares.
This year, 9,000,000 shares are intended for the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and 1,000,000 shares each are intended for the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the Novo Foundation.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation gave Blaze News the following statement on Tuesday:
"The Gates Foundation is grateful to Warren Buffett for his decades of support for our work. His gifts, totaling more than $47 billion, have helped us expand and deliver on the foundation’s mission to improve health and opportunity for people around the world. The foundation continues from a position of financial strength to advance our work through 2045, supported by Bill's $200 billion commitment."
RELATED: Bill Gates 'voluntarily' explains his Epstein ties to Congress
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According to the statement, Buffett is seeking to donate his remaining shares by the end of 2034, noting that his "children are unfortunately growing older."
"Of course," he continued, "mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034. The goal is to have the grants grow annually to each of the three foundations managed by each of my children and the annual grant to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation grow at a somewhat greater rate."
Warren Buffett announced his plan to give away his vast fortune in 2006. Since then, he has given annual donations to the Gates Foundation. Buffett has been a longtime friend of Bill Gates, though in 2024, Buffett announced that he would cut off donations to the Gates Foundation following his death. This development speeds up that decision, unless he resumes donations following the conclusion of an investigation.
The Associated Press reported that Buffett said that he hadn't spoken to Gates for months prior to the release of the Epstein files in the fall of 2025.
He told CNBC that he was amazed by the number of rich and powerful people pulled into the Epstein scandal:
“I mean, it, here you had a guy that was a convicted guy, a sensational con man, and the percentage of people that he knocked off,” Buffett said. “I mean, whether it was, he found their weakness. It might have been sex. It might be power, it might be, whatever it might be. And I don’t see how anybody could have pulled that off.”
In April, the Gates Foundation announced the beginning of an investigation into its connections with Epstein as it assesses future giving. The foundation expects to receive an update this summer.
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