OMAHA — Investor Warren Buffett has donated Berkshire Hathaway stock worth $27 million to an unnamed charity.
Buffett disclosed the gift of 50 Class A shares of Berkshire stock in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Wednesday.
This donation is in addition to Buffett's annual gifts to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four smaller foundations run by his family that he has been making since 2006. Buffett has said that more than 99% of his nearly $118 billion fortune will eventually go to charity, and he has gradually been giving it away over time. He has given those five foundations stock worth roughly $50 billion over the years.
People are also reading…
Buffett
Buffett didn't identify the charity that received his latest donation this week.
Even after this latest donation, Buffett still holds 218,237 Class A shares of Berkshire stock, which are the most expensive shares on the market at close to $540,000 apiece.
Berkshire does have a more affordable Class B share that offers a fraction of the voting rights of the A shares. Those Class B shares were selling for $355.95 Thursday morning.
Buffett's Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate owns dozens of businesses including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad and several major utilities. It also owns an eclectic assortment of manufacturing and retail companies. In addition to the companies it owns outright Berkshire holds a $350 billion stock portfolio with major stakes in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and American Express, among other stocks.
Photos: 30 images of Warren Buffett through the years
Buffett family at home in 1956
Warren and Susan Buffett at their home at 5202 Underwood Ave. in 1956. The family was “back in Omaha and ready for a picnic,” The World-Herald reported. Susie was 2½, and Howard was 17 months.
Buffett, 1966
Warren Buffett in 1966.
Warren Buffett in 1966
From left: Bill Scott, Warren Buffett and John Harding in May 1966.
Buffett, vice president of Boys Club
In 1969, Warren Buffett was a vice president of Omaha's Boys Club. Here, member Spencer McGruder gives the president's gavel to C. Clifton Nelson as Buffett looks on.
Buffett in the 1970s
Warren Buffett in the mid-1970s.
Buffett, Blumkin, 1983
Warren Buffett and Rose Blumkin announce the partnership between Nebraska Furniture Mart and Berkshire Hathaway in September 1983. They are seated in the carpet department of the Mart.
Buffett, 1982
Warren Buffett at his Kiewit Plaza office in 1982.
Fortune magazine cover
Warren Buffett was featured on the cover of Fortune magazine in April 1988.
Buffett, Munger, 1989
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger take questions from shareholders after Berkshire's annual meeting in April 1989.
Buffett grabs a Coke
Warren Buffett checks out the Coca-Cola at the Berkshire meeting in April 1989.
Buffett playing bridge, 1990
Warren Buffett and Dick Denton play bridge in 1990 at the Omaha Bridge Studio.
Warren Buffett and his mother
Leila Buffett, then 88, talks with her son Warren Buffett before the company's annual meeting in 1992. At center is Charles Higgins, president of See's Candy.
Buffett at Omaha Royals game, 2003
Warren Buffett tosses out a pitch before the start of the Omaha Royals' home opener at Rosenblatt Stadium on April 11, 2003. Buffett's jersey was retired before the game.
Buffett, 1992
Warren Buffett drinks a Coke at the First National Bank Building in 1992.
Buffett on TV show
Warren Buffett guest starred on an episode of "All My Children" in 1993. Here he has a scene with Jill Larson as Opal Cortlandt.
Buffett at office, 1993
Warren Buffett at his Berkshire office at Kiewit Plaza in 1993. He'd placed his hands and feet in cement for a fundraiser for the Omaha Community Playhouse.
Buffett throwing out first pitch, 1995
Warren Buffett winds up to throw out the first pitch at an Omaha Royals/Buffalo game in April 1995.
Buffett driving, 1996
Warren Buffett drives himself away from a Berkshire Hathaway meeting at the Holiday Inn in 1996.
Buffett at '98 Texas game
A photographer captures Warren Buffett on the sidelines of the Texas/Nebraska game in October 1998 for a Fortune Magazine feature.
Buffett and Gates, 1995
Bill Gates says Warren Buffett has basically stuck to eating what he liked when he was 6 years old. He mostly eats hamburgers, ice cream, and Coke. Here, two of the world's richest men are about to get some burgers and fries during a 1995 visit to McDonald's in Hong Kong. Said Gates of Buffett: "Always thrifty, Warren paid with coupons."
Buffett and Gates, 2004
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates play a hand of bridge for the press before the start of a bridge tournament at the Omaha Bridge Studio in 2004.
Winning hand
Warren Buffet collects his chips after winning a hand next to Joe Moglia, CEO of TD Ameritrade, during the Omega/Casino Royale Texas Hold 'Em Tournament as part of the Borsheims grand reopening in 2006.
Buffett at Berkshire meeting, 2011
Warren Buffett eats a Dilly Bar and talks with reporters at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway exhibit during the 2011 Berkshire meeting.
Buffett at his high school alma mater
David Rubenstein, president of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., gives Buffett a jacket from his high school alma mater, Woodrow Wilson High School, with the "47" on the sleeve for Buffett's graduation class of 1947. Buffett's response: "Go, Tigers!" That's the name of the Wilson High mascot.
Advantage, Buffett
Warren Buffett breaks out a giant paddle while playing against Olympian Ariel Hsing during several rounds of ping pong at Regency Court in Omaha on May 6, 2012.
Buffett playing cards, 2016
Warren Buffett plays cards during a Berkshire Hathaway event at Regency Court on May 1, 2016.
Buffett at 2017 meeting
Warren Buffett takes a swig of a Cherry Coke before participating in the newspaper toss at the 2017 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting.
Buffett at UNO, 2013
Warren Buffett poses with a large image of himself at UNO's Mammel Hall in 2013.
