The Berkshire Hathaway chairman is pausing his annual gift for the first time in two decades as he awaits findings from an outside law firm
Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Warren Buffett is skipping his usual midyear donation to the Gates Foundation while he awaits the results of an external review into the foundation's historical ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to The Wall Street Journal. It marks the first time in roughly two decades that the Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B chairman has delayed the gift.
Since beginning his giving in 2006, Buffett has transferred a total of roughly $48 billion worth of Berkshire stock to the Gates Foundation under what he has described as a lifetime pledge. The Journal reports that a final call may not come until the end of the year, with his customary Thanksgiving letter serving as a possible occasion for an announcement.
The Gates Foundation retained law firm WilmerHale to conduct an external review of the foundation's past engagement with Epstein, with findings expected this summer. People in Buffett's circle have reached out to the foundation's top leadership — among them CEO Mark Suzman — as part of an effort to better understand both the scope of the Epstein relationship and where the outside review currently stands, The Journal reports.
Regardless of how the Gates Foundation situation is resolved, those close to Buffett say his charitable giving to his family's philanthropic organizations — a group that includes charities led by each of his three children as well as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation — is expected to continue on its normal schedule, the Journal reported.
Warren Buffett said in March that he had not spoken to Bill Gates since documents detailing Gates's relationship with Epstein began to surface, citing concern about potential legal exposure. "I don't want to be in a position where I know things ... to be called as a witness," Buffett told CNBC at the time. Buffett also suggested that, with the Epstein matter still unresolved, speaking out at length would be premature.
Appearing before the House Oversight Committee on June 10, Gates characterized his decision to associate with Epstein as a "grave error in judgment" and told lawmakers he had neither witnessed nor taken part in any criminal conduct. Gates told lawmakers the last time he spoke with Buffett was in January, before the Epstein files were released.
The relationship between Gates and Epstein took shape in 2011, more than three years after Epstein had entered a guilty plea in a Florida state court on a charge related to the solicitation of a minor. Starting in late 2025, a series of document disclosures from the Justice Department and congressional investigators brought emails and photographs into public view that illustrated how extensively the two men had interacted.
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