Warren Buffett Cuts Gates Foundation From $6 Billion Gift After Epstein Fallout

By Any July 18, 2026

Warren Buffett announced he will no longer direct his annual multi-billion dollar donation of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, following revelations about Bill Gates's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. While describing Gates's actions as "distasteful," Buffett said he would still make the donations to other charitable foundations, including one run by his late wife.

Warren Buffett Cuts Gates Foundation From $6 Billion Gift After Epstein Fallout
Warren Buffett has abruptly cut the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation out of his signature multibillion‑dollar annual donation, exposing growing tension between two of the world’s most high‑profile philanthropists over Bill Gates’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Timeline of events

In mid‑July 2026, Buffett confirmed he was reshaping his long‑standing charitable plan for Berkshire Hathaway stock, worth about $6 billion this year. Instead of sending a major tranche to the Gates Foundation, as he has for years, he “drops Gates Foundation from $6bn Berkshire donation.”

Shortly afterward, Buffett publicly linked the change to renewed scrutiny of Gates’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He characterised Gates’s association with Epstein as “distasteful,” signalling personal discomfort with the revelations.

Buffett’s perspective

From Buffett’s side, the move is framed as a values‑driven adjustment rather than a retreat from philanthropy. Reports stress that he is altering “his personal charity plans after revelations about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’s Epstein ties,” not reducing his overall giving. He has indicated the Berkshire shares will instead go to other foundations, including one established by his late wife.

At the same time, Buffett has reportedly acknowledged human fallibility in choosing associates, saying he could “picture” himself making a similar mistake, a note of empathy that complicates any perception of outright condemnation.

Implications for Gates and global philanthropy

For Gates, the decision is a reputational blow: the Gates Foundation has long relied on Buffett’s annual stock gifts as a financial and symbolic pillar of its global health and development work. Buffett’s public description of the Epstein connection as “distasteful” keeps the controversy alive and raises broader questions about how past associations can reshape today’s philanthropic alliances.

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