Warren Buffett’s recent CNBC interview produced two notable disclosures that could matter to investors following Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio and the billionaire’s philanthropic plans. Speaking with Becky Quick, Buffett said he was the one who started Berkshire’s position in Alphabet, the Google parent now valued at about $30 billion, a detail that many observers had assumed was Greg Abel’s first major move as CEO.
Buffett also addressed his decision to stop making future donations to the Gates Foundation. He said Bill Gates’ association with Jeffrey Epstein was “distasteful,” but insisted that was not the main reason for ending the long-running gift stream. Instead, Buffett said the bigger factor was his growing confidence that his three children are now capable of distributing large sums responsibly. He contrasted that with his outlook in 2006, when the donations began and he did not have the same level of trust in them.
Over roughly two decades, Buffett gave the Gates Foundation nearly $48 billion in Berkshire shares, measured at the time of each donation. During the same period, he also directed almost $18 billion to other family-linked foundations, including the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the NoVo Foundation and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. He said he now believes his children want to give money away efficiently, without building large facilities or staging elaborate events.
Buffett added that he had read extensively about the Gates-Epstein matter and did not find anything that changed his overall view of Gates beyond the kind of errors people can make in friendships and hiring decisions. He also said he and Gates recently met in Omaha for a three-hour conversation, after which Gates said he intended to keep in touch. Buffett said Gates was fine with the decision to end the annual donations, and Gates later described Buffett as one of the greatest philanthropists of all time and a dear friend.
Source: cnbc.com
