Warren Buffett, the 90-year-old investor popularly known as ‘Oracle of Omaha’, has resigned as trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation after the couple’s divorce, he announced in a statement.
“For years I have been a trustee, an inactive trustee, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMG). Now I resign from that position, just as I did on all boards of companies other than Berkshire,” said the billionaire, who has expressed his support for BMG CEO Mark Suzman.
“My goals are 100 percent in sync with those of the foundation and my physical participation is not necessary in any way to achieve these goals,” Buffett added.
The billionaire, who pledged in 2006 to donate all of his Berkshire Hathaway shares, more than 99 percent of his assets, to philanthropic causes, has highlighted that with the latest distribution of $ 4.1 billion (3.441 million euros) “is halfway”.
Thus, if in June 2006 he owned 474,998 Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway, today he owns 238,624 shares, with a value of around $ 100 billion (€ 83.932 billion). “All are still destined for philanthropy,” he has promised.
On his part, Bill Gates has wanted to thank Buffett for his collaboration and inspiration during these more than 15 years and has stressed that he will always harbor “a deep sense of responsibility towards Warren.” “Warren will continue to inspire our foundation as we work to fight poverty and help millions of people live healthier lives,” he added.
“What made Warren’s extraordinary investment in the foundation so significant was not just its size, but what it represented: an unwavering belief that everyone deserves to live a healthy and fulfilling life and an optimism that such a world is possible “, has pointed out, on his side, Melinda French Gates.
