Warren Buffett has stopped donating Berkshire Hathaway stock to the foundation run by Bill Gates, redirecting his shares to foundations run by his own children instead. The shift follows Bill Gates' ties to Jeffrey Epstein and comes as Buffett hands day-to-day control to hand-picked successor Greg Abel. Foundations often lean on dividends to fund their giving, raising the question of whether Berkshire's nearly $400 billion cash pile could eventually flow to shareholders.
Warren Buffett has stopped donating Berkshire Hathaway stock to the foundation run by Bill Gates, redirecting his shares to foundations run by his own children instead. The move comes as Buffett hands day-to-day control to hand-picked successor Greg Abel, who became CEO at the start of 2026.
Nothing about Berkshire's operations is likely to change today. But together, the two moves could reshape what the conglomerate does with its cash over the longer term.
Why Buffett cut off the Gates Foundation
For a long time, Buffett donated Berkshire shares to the foundation run by Bill Gates. That changed after Gates' involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, and Buffett is now giving his shares to foundations run by his own children instead.
The plan is to give all of his remaining shares to these foundations by 2034, or sooner if he dies — at which point they will own his entire stake in the company he once ran, valued at around $140 billion.
A shift in who has Berkshire's ear
Buffett remains Berkshire's largest shareholder, and for decades his goals as CEO lined up with those of the company's most important owner. If he preferred to hold cash rather than buy something, there was little room for shareholders to complain.
That dynamic is unlikely to change while Buffett is alive, but foundations often rely on dividends to fund their philanthropic work. Hormel and Hershey are reliable dividend payers partly because foundations set up by their founders count among their major shareholders. Hormel has raised its payout for 50 consecutive years, making it a Dividend King.
Berkshire could easily afford a dividend
Berkshire ended Q1 2026 with a cash balance of nearly $400 billion — funds an insurer like Berkshire could easily use to pay a dividend.
It would be reasonable for Buffett's children to eventually push for a payout that lets them fund their philanthropy without selling stock, and given the size of the stake the foundations will hold, Berkshire may find that difficult to refuse. A dividend might also draw in more investors, an outcome that might not be the worst for Berkshire's shareholders.
Source: Fool
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