Buffett said Gates' Epstein association was 'distasteful' but forgivable. He shifted $6B in Berkshire stock away from the Gates Foundation, trusting his children with his estate.
Warren Buffett said he saw nothing in Bill Gates’ testimony about Jeffrey Epstein that went beyond “what I could picture myself doing,” pushing back against sweeping judgment of the Microsoft cofounder’s association with the convicted sex offender.
In a rare CNBC interview that aired Wednesday, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman offered his most detailed public comments on a topic that has shadowed Gates since the House Oversight Committee released testimony last month. Buffett said he had “read a great deal” about the matter and found it “distasteful,” but added that everyone makes mistakes picking the people they deal with.
“No one bats a thousand in the business of choosing people,” Buffett told reporter Becky Quick.
Gates testified that he met Epstein several times between 2011 and 2014 through trusted associates, hoping to raise money for global health work. He called the association a “grave error in judgment” and said he never witnessed criminal conduct, never visited Epstein’s island and did not seek a personal relationship. Buffett said the transcript showed nothing beyond a misstep he could imagine making himself.
The 95-year-old investor also clarified why he shifted his annual giving this week. On Tuesday Berkshire announced that Buffett would donate $6 billion in BRK.B stock to four family foundations, not the Gates Foundation, which had received the bulk of his yearly gifts for nearly two decades.
Buffett said the foundation already holds a “great deal of money” from him and has plenty of financial firepower, especially given Gates’ own $200 billion commitment to the organization. He said he now trusts his three children to disburse his estate, which is made up almost entirely of Berkshire stock – more than 99% of his wealth – by the end of 2034.
“I’ve really done the same thing as Bill, in a certain sense,” Buffett said, referring to Gates’ pledge last year to give away nearly all his own fortune through the foundation over the next 20 years.
The Gates Foundation said in a statement it is “grateful” to Buffett for more than $47 billion of gifts over the years and remains in a “position of financial strength to advance our work through 2045.”
Buffett, who turned over the Berkshire CEO role to Greg Abel at the start of the year, said Gates visited him in Omaha a few weeks ago. The two spent about three hours together. They first met on the Fourth of July weekend in 1991 and have shared an “enormous number of good times” since, Buffett said. He called their relationship a “wonderful friendship.”
Later in the interview, Quick revealed that Buffett broke his leg a few weeks ago and underwent surgery. He is recovering well and can walk with some assistance.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) carries an Alpha Score of 49, a Mixed label, reflecting neutral positioning as the company enters its post-Buffett era with Abel at the helm. BRK.B stock page – Microsoft (MSFT), where Gates remains a significant shareholder and board member, has an Alpha Score of 58, a Moderate label, with the stock at $384.93, down 1.55% in Wednesday trading. MSFT stock page
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