Follow The Money: Where Buffett’s $6 Billion Donation Could Really End Up

Bloomberg reports Warren Buffett has donated roughly $6 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares to five foundations, continuing his long-standing philanthropic commitment. However, the financial outlet conveniently overlooks any scrutiny of where that money may ultimately be going. A closer examination of these nonprofits reveals some highly questionable connections.

A Berkshire Hathaway press release stated that Buffett converted 8,239 Class A shares into 12,358,500 Class B shares in order to donate those B shares to five foundations:

1. 9,433,839 to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust,

2. 943,384 shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

3. and 660,366 shares to each of the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.

“The mathematics of the lifetime commitments to the five foundations are interesting,” Buffett wrote in a statement, adding, “99½% of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage.”

The bulk of the shares—9,433,839 in total—are headed to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, a cornerstone funder of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which leads global vaccination efforts. Over the years, Gavi has received at least $1 billion from USAID, amplifying Gates’ private contributions (and others) through public funding. Gates was angered when the Trump administration dismantled USAID, in which the billionaire went on a legacy media outlet to bash Elon Musk’s DOGE. 

Bill Gates says Donald Trump & Elon Musk spending USAID could lead to millions of deaths pic.twitter.com/SaAW6SN8js

— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) February 5, 2025

The remaining 2.92 million shares will be donated to his children’s foundations — Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation — as well as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after the billionaire’s late wife. 

Using publicly available data, we mapped the leadership and affiliations of each of these nonprofits to gain a better understanding of where these funds could potentially flow through the complex web of nonprofits.

Sherwood Foundation

Howard G. Buffett Foundation

NoVo Foundation

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

One notable connection we uncovered involving the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is its link to the Sunshine Lady Foundation, which is further connected to the Here to Help Foundation—an organization tied to United Way, a group that has faced allegations of using federal grant money to provide free services to undocumented immigrants.

Mapping out the connections, the Here to Help Foundation is also linked to the McGregor Fund…

Let’s say the McGregor Fund President Kate Levin Markel is no fan of ‘Make America Great Again’… 

Markel praised New York Federal Reserve Visiting Scholar Clara Miller, who recently opined:

This is a moment for all such institutions, including foundations, to stand up and be counted together. Whatever our personal views, we must call out and resist this unprecedented and intolerable intrusion by the government into our fundamental rights as Americans. Trump’s deep state intruders will simply be emboldened unchecked if we take no action and insist on silence.

Miller’s current and past experiences, as listed on her LinkedIn account…

While there are more questions than answers, one thing is clear: Buffett’s $6 billion donation in Berkshire shares is set to flow into a network of nonprofits that appear aligned with left-leaning causes, some of which have been tied to very questionable progressive agendas.