Warren Buffett has completed his annual round of gifts to charity, distributing a total of 543,757 Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares worth $2.17 billion to five foundations.
It's part of his plan announced two years ago to give away the bulk of his fortune gradually over a number of years.
Most of the stock goes to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and we got details of this year's installment, most notably the exact date of the gift (July 1), in a filing last week by Gates. (The number of shares to be given to each foundation has been laid out in a schedule by Buffett, so that part isn't a surprise.)
In an SEC filing last night, Buffett says that all his Class B stock gifts were made on July 1 this year, allowing us to calculate their dollar value as of that day's market close.
Specifically:
- 451,250 shares to the Gates Foundation - $1,804,548,750
- 45,125 shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (the Buffett family foundation named for his late wife) - $180,454,875
- 15,794 shares to the Susan A. Buffett Foundation (his daughter's foundation, now known as The Sherwood Foundation) - $63,160,206
- 15,794 shares to the Howard G. Buffett Foundation (his son's foundation) - $63,160,206
- 15,794 shares to the NoVo Foundation (the foundation run by his son Peter and daughter-in-law Jennifer) - $63,160,206
That leaves Buffett with 350,000 Class A shares (32.62% of shares outstanding) and 2,020,268 Class B shares (14.14% of shares outstanding), worth a total of $50,114,051,732 at the close on July 1.
Current Berkshire stock prices:
Class A:
Class B:
See Warren Buffett Watch on CNBC's The Call, most weekday mornings at 11:50a ET
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