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Warren Buffett donates $2.8 billion to five charities

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was once more the biggest recipient of Warren Buffett's $2.8 billion in charity this year. 

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Larry Downing/Reuters/File
President Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to Warren Buffett during a ceremony at the White House in 2011.
  • By Staff Associated Press

| Omaha, Neb.

Investor Warren Buffett has given more than $2.8 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charities as part of his plan to gradually give away his fortune.

Buffett, who is Berkshire's chairman and CEO, said in a news release Monday that he made his annual gifts last week.

Buffett has been giving away blocks of Berkshire stock since 2006 with the biggest share going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He also gave Class B Berkshire shares to his own foundation and to the foundations run by each of his three children.

In addition to these major gifts that Buffett makes each summer, he also gives smaller blocks of stock to several unnamed charities each year.

Forbes reports:

After the gift, Buffett now stands as the fourth-richest person in the world with a slightly decreased fortune of $64.5 billion. That puts him about $2.6 billion behind Spanish retail magnate Amancio Ortega.

Buffett is, along with Gates, the creator of the Giving Pledge, which encourages the world’s wealthiest to donate a substantial portion of their fortunes to charity. Buffett has pledged to give away 99% of his wealth. His lifetime giving now tops $25.5 billion.

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