Buffett stops Gates charity donations over Epstein link
Warren Buffett has stopped donating money to the Gates Foundation, ending a two-decade philanthropic partnership after interactions between Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.
Buffett said Tuesday he will donate about $US6 billion ($8.6 billion) of Berkshire Hathaway stock, comprising 12 million Class B shares, in his annual mid-year gift to four family foundations run by his daughter Susie and sons Howard and Peter.
The 95-year-old Berkshire chairman’s announcement made no mention of the Gates Foundation, which has received more than US$47 billion ($67 billion) in the conglomerate’s shares since Buffett made what he called an irrevocable commitment in 2006 to donate shares during his lifetime.
Buffett’s giving last year was more than $4.5 billion ($6.4 billion).
“Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated, one way or another, to four foundations by December 31, 2034,” Buffett said in a statement.
The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Berkshire did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment. After his death, Buffett said his children will manage a charity containing about 99.5 percent of his remaining wealth.
Bill Gates saw his reputation damaged after the US Department of Justice released files on Epstein in February.
These included photos of Gates posing with the financier and women with corrected faces. The emails also showed communications between Epstein and foundation staff.
Last month, Gates told Congress that he was introduced to Epstein in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida and four years after Epstein reached a controversial non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors.
Gates said several subsequent meetings with Epstein focused on possible philanthropy but proved fruitless, and the relationship ended in December 2014. She said she later discovered that Epstein had learned about her marital infidelity, and that Epstein unsuccessfully tried to use that information to blackmail her into re-engaging.
Gates, 70, has not been charged with any crime. He has repeatedly expressed remorse for having anything to do with Epstein, denied spending time with victims of Epstein’s sexual abuse, and said he never witnessed Epstein’s criminal behavior.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. The New York City medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
