Warren Buffett’s – Donations Shatter Records
Warren Buffett recently made headlines for his donation of about $2.8 billion in the form of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and several other charities.
The latest gift in Buffett’s annual pledge to give away the majority of his wealth was the largest single charitable donation in history and makes Buffett the second most philanthropic person on the planet (by value of donations), with only Gates himself having given away more money.
However, if Berkshire Hathaway continues its track record of excellent performance, the latest gift could be just the beginning. Let’s take a look at how big Buffett’s gifts could get simply by using the principle of investing that created most of Buffett’s fortune: Compounding investment returns over long periods of time.
The pledge
Buffett is one of the founding signers of The Giving Pledge, a commitment by ultra-wealthy people to give away at least half of their wealth. The pledge was made official in 2010, but Buffett had committed to giving away the vast majority of his money several years before, in 2006.For the bulk of his donation, Buffett pledged 10 million class-B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock to be given to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in annual increments. The class B shares have since undergone a 50-to-1 split, so his total gift would be the equivalent of 500 million of today’s class B shares, worth about $31 billion at the time of the gift.
Click here to view original web page at feeds.fool.com
Category: Passions Over 55, Retirement Planning
