Warren Buffett could be planning to redirect tens of billions of dollars to his family’s abortion-rights charity even though the money was initially earmarked for the philanthropic foundation run by his good friend Bill Gates, according to a report.
In 2006, the billionaire investor pledged to bequeath 85% of stock in his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the second largest charitable organization in the world.
In a letter to the couple, Buffett, who has vowed to give away 99% of his wealth to charity, wrote that he was “irrevocably committing to make annual gifts of Berkshire Hathaway ‘B’ shares throughout my lifetime.”
But the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that an obscure Buffett family foundation that supports abortion rights is making preparations to reap a large chunk of the “Oracle of Omaha’s” fortune once the the 91-year-old investor eventually dies.
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation has been expanding its administrative staff ahead of an anticipated “massive influx of money,” according to the Journal.
The charity’s focus is promoting abortion rights — an issue that has taken on a new sense of urgency ahead of the Supreme Court’s anticipated ruling on Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion.
Philanthropic officials at both charities anticipate that the Buffett family charity stands to receive somewhere between $70 billion and $100 billion.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Bloomberg pegged Warren Buffett’s fortune at $93.3 billion — making him the eighth richest person in the world.
According to the Journal, Buffett has committed to leave $56 billion for the Gates Foundation; $17.4 billion to four family-linked charities including the Buffett Foundation; and an uncommitted sum of $18.7 billion.
Before stepping down from the board of the Gates Foundation last year, Buffett donated some $30 billion in his 15 years as a trustee.
The expectation is that shares of Berkshire Hathaway will continue to perform as they have in recent years — so much so that in a decade Buffett’s stake in the company will be worth in excess of $200 billion.
Planning for Buffett’s estate, which has been ongoing for years, is unrelated to the investor’s health, the Journal said.
The Post reached out to Buffett and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seeking comment.
The Gates Foundation has been rocked in recent years by its namesakes’ bitter divorce — triggered in part by Bill Gates’ personal relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein as well as revelations about his behavior with female employees.
Last June, Buffett resigned as a trustee of the Gates Foundation — leaving the Gateses as the remaining two trustees. In January, the charity announced that it had named four “independent voices” to the board.
Since its creation in 2000, the Gates Foundation, which has an endowment of some $50 billion, has doled out more than $60 billion in grants. It employs 1,800 people and funds work in the fields of health, gender, and education that is being done in 134 countries.
In February, the Journal reported that Melinda Gates has decided against leaving the bulk of her estimated $11 billion fortune to the charity she co-founded with her ex-husband.
