{"id":138995,"date":"2026-07-14T09:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/warren-buffett-omits-annual-donation-to-bill-gates-foundation-after-his-epstein-ties-were-disclos\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T09:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:22:17","slug":"warren-buffett-omits-annual-donation-to-bill-gates-foundation-after-his-epstein-ties-were-disclos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/warren-buffett-omits-annual-donation-to-bill-gates-foundation-after-his-epstein-ties-were-disclos\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffett omits gift to Bill Gates’ foundation after Microsoft cofounder’s Epstein ties disclosed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE
FILE – Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting May 5, 2019, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo\/Nati Harnik, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Nati Harnik, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) \u2014 Billionaire Warren Buffett<\/a> omitted Bill Gates<\/a> \u2032 foundation from his annual donations this year after disclosures of the Microsoft co-founder\u2019s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>. He will donate about $6 billion to four foundations connected to his own family, but did not mention Gates in his announcement Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Buffett also said in his statement that he wants all of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway stock worth more than $140 billion donated to charity by the end of 2034. Previously the plan was for his three children to distribute his remaining fortune within 10 years of the 95-year-old investor\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034,\u201d Buffett said in a statement. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buffett and the Gates Foundation did not immediately respond Tuesday to questions. CNBC said Buffett is scheduled to give the channel an exclusive interview on this topic Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Buffett’s latest gifts are roughly equal to last year’s donations<\/strong><\/p>\n

The majority of Buffett\u2019s charitable gifts \u2014 worth more than $61 billion \u2014 have gone to the Gates Foundation since he announced the plan to give away his fortune in 2006. He has been giving blocks of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and the four foundations run by his three children regularly.<\/p>\n

Buffett plans to give about $4.5 billion in stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation this year and about $500 million in shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Novo Foundation, which are run by his children.<\/p>\n

So the total amount of donations announced Tuesday is similar to the roughly $6 billion in donations he made last summer, with Buffett\u2019s family foundations getting significantly more than in previous years that would seem to account for the money that would have gone to the Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n

Gates has denied any ties to Epstein’s crimes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gates denies any knowledge of Epstein\u2019s crimes and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He said he only met with Epstein because he thought it might help him raise money for charitable causes.<\/p>\n

Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found dead at the Manhattan federal lockup in August 2019 and his death was later ruled a suicide by New York City\u2019s medical examiner.<\/p>\n

Buffett already said in 2024 that he planned to cut off donations to the Gates Foundation after his death<\/a> and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his fortune. The decision he announced Tuesday will accelerate that plan.<\/p>\n

The two billionaires were the best of friends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buffett and Gates used to be exceptionally close friends who talked often, played bridge online and even took vacations together. Gates also served on the board of Buffett\u2019s conglomerate for years and the legendary investor sat on the board of the Gates Foundation. But Buffett told CNBC in March that he hadn\u2019t talked to Gates for months since before the Epstein files were released in the fall of 2025.<\/p>\n

In the past, Buffett stood up for Gates. Three years ago, Buffett cut off a man<\/a> who was presenting a resolution at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting after he questioned Gates\u2019 character because of his ties with Epstein. Peter Flaherty was arrested that day for trespassing even though he had been approved to make the presentation beforehand. The charge was later dropped, but the incident led to a lawsuit, which is still pending in the courts.<\/p>\n

Buffett can’t believe how many people Epstein fooled<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buffett said to CNBC \u201cit is astounding to me that anybody could be that successful as a con person\u201d but Epstein found a way to exploit the weaknesses of others. Buffett would not discuss Gates\u2019 involvement, but said he doesn\u2019t want to be involved with anything that could be investigated later.<\/p>\n

Gates discussed<\/a> his ties to Epstein with the staff of his foundation recently. Gates appears multiple times in the Justice Department\u2019s release of documents<\/a> connected to its investigation of the late financier. The Justice Department\u2019s files include email correspondence between Gates and Epstein about philanthropic projects, calendar entries documenting dates they got together, and photos of Gates at events the two men attended.<\/p>\n

The foundation announced that it hired someone in March to assess the foundation\u2019s past engagement with Epstein and review its policies to vet any future philanthropic partnerships. Gates and the rest of the foundation\u2019s board expect to get an update on that investigation sometime this summer.<\/p>\n

Buffett told CNBC that he\u2019s amazed at how many wealthy and powerful people have been caught up in the Epstein scandal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Buffett said. \u201cI 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\u2019t see how anybody could have pulled that off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buffett said he\u2019s glad Epstein never came to Omaha, where he has lived for more than six decades. Buffett is regarded by many as the world\u2019s greatest investor who built up Berkshire over the years by buying insurance companies like Geico, major utilities, manufacturers and well-known brands like Dairy Queen and the BNSF railroad.<\/p>\n

Buffett stepped down<\/a> as Berkshire CEO in January after 60 years of leading the company, but he remains as chairman<\/a> and the largest shareholder. Greg Abel<\/a> is now CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n

\"FILE
FILE – Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, leaves after a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Capitol Hill, June 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates, left, and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. billionaire Warren Buffett laugh while answering questions Aug 5, 2006, before the Nebraska Regional Bridge tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (AP Photo\/Dave Weaver, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Dave Weaver, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting May 5, 2019, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo\/Nati Harnik, File)(AP Photo\/Nati Harnik, File) OMAHA, Neb. (AP) \u2014 Billionaire Warren Buffett omitted Bill Gates \u2032 foundation from his annual donations this year after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-138995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138995"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139002,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138995\/revisions\/139002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138995"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=138995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}