New Delhi, June 30: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has suspended his annual donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the first time in nearly two decades, choosing to wait for the outcome of a review into past associations between foundation co-founder Bill Gates and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Buffett is reassessing his philanthropic commitments while awaiting further clarity on the findings of the review. The Berkshire Hathaway chairman is expected to revisit the decision later this year, possibly through his customary Thanksgiving letter.
The move temporarily halts Buffett’s long-standing tradition of donating Berkshire Hathaway shares each year to the Gates Foundation and four family-run charities. In 2025, his contribution to the Gates Foundation alone was valued at more than $4.5 billion.
Since launching his philanthropic giving programme in 2006, Buffett has donated over $47 billion worth of Berkshire shares to the Gates Foundation, making it the largest beneficiary of his charitable contributions.
Earlier this year, Buffett indicated that he was reconsidering future donations following renewed public attention on Bill Gates’ meetings with Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. In a March interview with CNBC, Buffett said he had not spoken to Gates since the U.S. Department of Justice released documents detailing those meetings.
“I’ll wait and see what unfolds. I’m learning things I didn’t know,” Buffett said when asked whether he would continue supporting the foundation.
The Gates Foundation has maintained that Epstein had no involvement in its grant-making decisions, while Bill Gates has acknowledged that meeting Epstein was a mistake. Gates has stated that their interactions were limited to discussions on philanthropy and has denied any involvement with Epstein’s victims.
Despite pausing this year’s donation, Buffett has said he does not regret his past contributions to the foundation, although he wishes “certain things hadn’t happened.” He has also expressed surprise at Epstein’s ability to gain the trust of prominent individuals before his 2019 arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Buffett had previously announced that the majority of his remaining fortune would ultimately be transferred to a charitable trust managed by his children rather than to the Gates Foundation after his death.
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