Warren Buffett announces $6B in donations to 5 foundations

Warren Buffett in 2015. (Photo courtesy of USA International Trade Administration)

Famed investor Warren Buffett is donating $6 billion worth of his company’s stock to five foundations, bringing the total he has given to them since 2006 to roughly $60 billion, based on their value when received.

Buffett said late Friday that the shares of Berkshire Hathaway will be delivered on Monday. Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico, Dairy Queen and a range of other businesses, and Buffett is donating nearly 12.4 million of the Class B shares of its stock. Those shares have a lower and easier-to-digest price tag than the company’s original Class A shares, and each of the B shares was worth $485.68 at their most recent close on Friday.

The largest tranche is going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which will receive 9.4 million shares. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation will receive 943,384 shares, and the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation will each receive 660,366 shares.

Buffett made waves a year ago when he said he plans to cut off donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his fortune.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B stock has climbed 19.1% over the last 12 months, topping the broad U.S. stock market’s return of 14.1%, including dividends. Buffett is famous on Wall Street for buying companies at good prices and being more conservative when prices look too high. The bargain-hunting approach has helped him amass a fortune worth about $145 billion, with basically all of it in Berkshire Hathaway’s stock.

“Nothing extraordinary has occurred at Berkshire; a very long runway, simple and generally sound decisions, the American tailwind and compounding effects produced my current wealth,” Buffett said in a statement. “My will provides that about 99½% of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage.”