Warren Buffett gives $1.5B in stock to Gates Foundation
Warren Buffett donated 19.34 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Warren Buffett plans to transfer the majority of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and this gift represents the fifth installment.
Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and his wife Astrid Buffet walk to lunch during a break on the first day of the Allen and Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 6, 2011. Buffett chose the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to receive his annual gift of Berkshire Hathaway stock.
Anthony Bolante / Reuters
SEATTLE (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett has made his annual gift of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, turning over about $1.5 billion worth of stock.
According to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Buffett donated 19.34 million Class B shares of the company's stock.
The closing price of Class B shares on Thursday was $77.77.
The gift is the fifth installment in Buffett's plan to transfer the majority of his wealth to the Seattle-based foundation run by the Microsoft Corp. co-founder and his wife. The foundation is the world's largest with an endowment of $37.1 billion as of March 31.
Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway owns a mix of more than 60 companies, including insurance, furniture, carpet, jewelry, restaurants and utility businesses.