Warren Edward Buffet is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. In 2006, in an unprecedented act of charity, he gave away 85% of his fortune to philanthropic organizations of which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation received the greatest share and spotlight. The amount of the unforeseen donation is so staggering that Carol Loomis, an editor of Fortune Magazine asked the philanthropist if he was ill — to which Buffet replied that no, he definitely was not. The death of Susan, Warren Buffet’s wife, moved him; Buffet commented that his former wife always wanted to share their wealth to society. The investor has split Berkshire Hathaway B shares to the following recipients:• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Ten million shares• Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation: One million shares• NoVo Foundation: 350,000 shares• Howard G. Buffett Foundation: 350,000 shares• Susan A. Buffett Foundation: 350,000 sharesDefinitely, Warren Buffet has started a trend of philanthropic donations as seen by the following comments of prominent papers:• The Wall Street Journal has commented that Warren Buffett’s $31 billion pledge to Bill Gates’ foundation has “led” and motivated affluent Americans to donate 21 gifts of $100 million or more in 2006 alone. • The Seattle Times has commented that the $30 billion committed by Buffet has made such an impact that philanthropists are now finding themselves under the spotlight in a degree unparalleled. The donation radically changed how philanthropists decide where there funds would be donated. The Economist magazine calls the new paradigm shift in philanthropy as “philanthro-capitalism,” a model wherein rich individuals invest in social advocacies as they would in stock markets.
Carlos Abadi is a philanthropist and prominent investment consultant.
Learn more about active philanthropist Carlos Abadi on Faces of Philanthropy.
Carlos Abadi is part of the RGE Monitor Team.
