July 15 (Reuters) – Warren Buffett said it was not a surprise when he told Bill Gates about his decision to stop donating to the Gates Foundation, ending their two-decade philanthropic partnership.
Buffett, 95, did not include the Gates Foundation in a nearly $6 billion donation of Berkshire Hathaway stock announced on Tuesday, following revelations about interactions between Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In interview excerpts broadcast on CNBC on Wednesday, Buffett, who is Berkshire’s chairman, said the billionaires spoke three weeks ago when Gates visited Omaha.
The meeting followed the U.S. Department of Justice’s release in February of files about Gates’ relationship with Epstein.
Congress has also investigated the matter, and Gates met with that body last month. Gates has repeatedly expressed regret for having anything to do with Epstein, and not been accused of crimes.
“I reevaluated my whole situation,” Buffett said. “It did not come as a surprise.”
He added: “I had read what Congress came up with. I’d read everything.”
He will instead continue donating Berkshire shares to four family foundations run by his children Susie, Howard and Peter, including the nearly $6 billion donation.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, following his arrest on sex trafficking charges. New York City’s medical examiner called the death a suicide.
Buffett had donated more than $47 billion of Berkshire stock to the Gates Foundation since 2006.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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