Buffett Ends Gates Donations, Reveals He Picked Alphabet
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- Warren Buffett is ending future donations to the Gates Foundation after giving it nearly $48 billion in Berkshire shares over 20 years, framing the decision around his children's readiness to handle philanthropy rather than Bill Gates' Epstein ties, which he called merely "distasteful"
- Berkshire Hathaway's roughly $30 billion Alphabet position was personally initiated by Buffett—not CEO Greg Abel—through about $4.3 billion in Q3 2024 purchases, $11.5 billion in Q1 2025, and an additional $10 billion bought directly from Google
- Buffett plans to accelerate stock donations so he can "dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years," in part because his three children, who will direct the giving, are "unfortunately growing older"
- Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down, a development Buffett said he is disappointed by, though he remains happy with Berkshire's $76 billion Apple stake—its largest equity holding
- Kevin Warsh earned Buffett's endorsement as a "good choice" for Federal Reserve chairman, with Buffett saying he "will do the best he can" at the twin mandates of 2% inflation and maximum employment
- Berkshire Hathaway likely repurchased between $5 billion and $11 billion of its own shares in Q2, per Barron's estimates derived from Buffett's SEC filing showing his 188,920 Class A shares represent 13.2% of total shares outstanding
Why it matters: Berkshire Hathaway's $30 billion Alphabet position—its largest tech stake ever—was Buffett's personal call, not Abel's, confirming the 94-year-old remains the primary investing decision-maker even with a new CEO in place. His plan to dispose of all Berkshire shares within about eight years gives investors a concrete countdown to the post-Buffett era and a major transfer of philanthropic capital from the Gates Foundation to his three children's foundations.
