Wednesday 22 June 2022 10:41 PM Warren Buffet's $93.4 billion estate could go to his family foundation that ... trends now
The bulk of Warren Buffett's $93.4 billion estate could go to his little-known family foundation that supports abortion rights - and not to the Gates Foundation as executives have been planning.
For years, executives at the Gates Foundation have expected the billionaire to donate the majority of his shares in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, to the global organization after he dies - and have been discussing how best to use the money, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He had previously pledged in 2006 to earmark 85 percent of his stock in his company for charity - with five-sixth of the shares going to the Gates Foundation over the course of his lifetime.
From there, he pledged to give a set, annually declining number of Berkshire "B" shares, to the Gates Foundation as well as the four foundations run by his family members, according to Fortune.
But his 2006 letter was vague about what would happen to his fortune when he dies, with Buffett only writing at the time to the Gateses: 'I will soon write a new will that will provide for a continuance of this commitment by distribution of the remaining earmarked shares or in some other manner after my death.'
He then announced in 2010 he planned to give away 99 percent of his wealth after he dies, saying in a Giving Pledge 'my family and I will give up nothing we need or want by fulfilling this 99% pledge.'
Now, the Journal reports, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation - named for his late wife and run by his son-in-law Allen Greenberg - is hiring additional staff and is planning to spend a massive amount of money it is expecting to receive, with Buffett turning 92 in August.
The organization - which has reportedly donated large sums to abortion rights groups and is largely run by Buffett's friends and family, with many of his children and grandchildren serving on the board - has expanded recently to add staff in Washington DC and Rwanda.
It is now also reportedly looking at ways to spend a large sum of money - estimated to be $70 to $100 billion - on both international and United States efforts, focusing on reproductive health and primary health - which could include expanding into vaccinations and infectious diseases, an area in which the Gates Foundation has become globally focused.
Warren Buffett may wind up donating a large sum of his $93.4 billion to the foundation his late wife, Susan, left, founded in 1964 - which donates large sums to abortion groups
Buffett, right, now 91, has previously pledged in 2006 to earmark a majority of his shares in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, going to the Gates Foundation over the course of his lifetime - and company executives had expected to receive a large amount of his unpledged shares after he dies
The Susan Thompson Buffett foundation was founded in 1964 by his then wife - who was apparently an activist for abortion rights and access to contraceptives - to provide scholarships to students in Buffett's home state of Nebraska.
Its website also only describes the scholarships that it gives out, with information on how to apply.
On the bottom of the site, it says: 'The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation responds to questions about college scholarships only. The Foundation does not respond to other inquiries.'
But according to the Journal, the organization has spent the bulk of its funds on abortion access and reproductive health issues.
It usually makes its donations anonymously, in keeping with Susan Buffett's desire to focus on organizations that do the work rather than those that write the checks, unnamed sources told the
