Overview
- Warren Buffett has halted his customary midyear transfer of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation for the first time in about 20 years to wait for the review’s findings.
- The foundation commissioned an external review, reported to be run by law firm WilmerHale, to examine past staff contacts with Jeffrey Epstein and its vetting policies with results expected this summer.
- The pause follows public releases of DOJ and congressional documents showing communications and meetings involving Epstein and Bill Gates, and Gates’s June testimony calling his meetings a “grave error in judgment.”
- People familiar with Buffett’s plans say he and his advisers have spoken with Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman and that a final decision could come later this year, possibly in Buffett’s Thanksgiving letter.
- The hold puts tangible dollars at stake—Buffett has given roughly tens of billions to the foundation since 2006—and raises short‑term reputational and governance questions that could influence donor support, congressional scrutiny, and the foundation’s planned spending down.