Ya know for a man that is 95 he is still sharp as a tack! In his letter to shareholders he admitted how the Giving Pledge wasn't what he had hoped it would be.
“Early on, I contemplated various grand philanthropic plans. Though I was stubborn, these did not prove feasible, During my many years, I’ve also watched ill-conceived wealth transfers by political hacks, dynastic choices and, yes, inept or quirky philanthropists.”
This could not be more spot on as it has become widely known that foundations and charities were being set up by the kids of these billionaires and that they were taking huge salaries. Furthermore, in the cases where good and honest causes were giving funding everything became much more murky and messed up when they received large infusions of cash and they would often lose there way and go from something that was working to.... well a complete failure.
When we look at the Giving Pledge he co-founded with the Gates the goal was initially to get people to pledge 50% of their wealth. Buffet was the one who upped it to 99%.
However, of the 256 signatories, just nine have followed through on giving away half their wealth—according to a report released earlier this year by the Institute for Policy Studies. For many billionaires, the speed of wealth accumulation has far exceeded charitable donation.
It is pretty telling when you see who Buffet had been giving his money to and how he had pulled back. I think we can agree he was correct with the direction that the Gate Foundation has gone and how this was a move that was correct.
In total, Buffett’s giving has reached over $60 billion—much of it to the Gates Foundation, which focuses on fighting poverty, disease, and inequity. But, in recent years, his relationship with Bill Gates has reportedly become more distant. The New York Times reported last year that Buffett had concerns over the foundation becoming bureaucratically bloated. Shortly after Bill and Melinda divorced in 2021, Buffett resigned from the board, which had then shrunk to three.