Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from the billionaire investor at Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 4, 2019. REUTERS/Scott Morgan/File photo
Warren Buffett said on Tuesday he has donated about $866 million of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four family charities, and told shareholders “I feel good” as he moves nearer the sunset of his storied investing career.
In a regulatory filing, Berkshire said Buffett donated 1.5 million Class B shares of Berkshire to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. Named for his late first wife, the organization works in reproductive health.
Buffett also donated 900,000 additional Class B shares, divided evenly among charities run by his children Howard, Susan and Peter: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.
The donations supplement the $759 million of Berkshire stock that Buffett donated to the charities at this time last year, also just before the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Buffett also issued a rare letter to shareholders, again pledging that more than 99 percent of his wealth would go to charity, with his children serving as executors of his will. He said Berkshire was “built to last” and would remain in good hands.
While Buffett has curbed his non-Berkshire responsibilities over the years he has never publicly signaled a desire to step down, including after his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2012.
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“At 93, I feel good but fully realize I am playing in extra innings,” Buffett said in the letter.
Berkshire did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
Greg Abel, 61, a Berkshire vice chairman, is slated to succeed Buffett as Berkshire’s CEO, while Howard Buffett would become non-executive chairman.
“We have the right CEO to succeed me and the right board of directors,” Buffett wrote.
Buffett is the world’s fifth richest person, with a $120.5 billion fortune, according to Forbes magazine.
He has since 2006 donated more than half his Berkshire stock to the family charities and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
These donations have totaled close to $52 billion at the time they were made, with the Gates Foundation receiving more than $39 billion.
Buffett has run Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire since 1965.
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The conglomerate owns dozens of businesses including the BNSF railroad, Geico car insurance, energy and industrial companies, and familiar consumer brands such as Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.
It also recently owned more than $318 billion of stocks, about half of which was Apple.
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation focuses on alleviating hunger, mitigating conflicts, combating human trafficking and improving public safety. The Sherwood Foundation supports nonprofits in Nebraska, and the NoVo Foundation has initiatives focused on girls and women.