Crack in 20-year-old friendship of Buffett Gates:Buffett, who donates ₹3.5 lakh crore, stops charity until Epstein investigation is complete

Warren Buffett, counted among the world’s largest and most successful investors, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have a friendship spanning decades. Together they started ‘The Giving Pledge’. This is a campaign that inspires billionaires to donate their wealth. Buffett himself has been a founding trustee of the Gates Foundation and had donated ₹3.46 lakh crore to it by 2022. But this year the story changed. Buffett gave nothing to the Gates Foundation. Instead, the 95-year-old Buffett handed over Berkshire Hathaway shares worth about $6 billion (₹57,600 crore) to four foundations connected to his family. There is a specific reason for this. The Gates Foundation has initiated an investigation by calling in external lawyers. It is being ascertained what the foundation’s connections were with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett is waiting for the results of this investigation. That’s why he has stopped donations to the foundation. The real story takes an interesting turn here. In an interview with CNBC in March this year, Buffett made it clear that he no longer talks to Gates. He said, ‘We had a great time together, but until this matter is cleared up, I don’t think it’s right to communicate much.’ Gates testified before a US Congressional committee last month that he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes. Buffett also clarified that he never met Epstein. He never discussed this controversy with Gates because he didn’t want to be called to testify about the Gates-Epstein relationship. However, despite his age and this controversy, Buffett’s philanthropy has not diminished. Buffett has said that he fully expects his three children to distribute his entire stake in Berkshire Hathaway by 2034. Buffett, owner of assets worth ₹31 lakh crore, has stepped down from the foundation’s board Berkshire Hathaway’s total value is estimated at around $1.1 trillion (₹105.7 lakh crore). Buffett’s stake in this is approximately 30%. That means his stake alone is valued at ₹31.7 lakh crore. Buffett resigned from the Gates Foundation board in 2021. But since then, he had continued donating thousands of crores of rupees every year. However, this year he broke this sequence.