The largest tranche is going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which will receive 9.4 million shares. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation will receive 943,384 shares, and the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation will each receive 660,366 shares.
Buffett made waves a year ago when he said he plans to cut off donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his fortune.
Berkshire Hathaway's Class B stock has climbed 19.1% over the last 12 months, topping the broad U.S. stock market's return of 14.1%, including dividends. Buffett is famous on Wall Street for buying companies at good prices and being more conservative when prices look too high. The bargain-hunting approach has helped him amass a fortune worth about $145 billion, with basically all of it in Berkshire Hathaway's stock.
“Nothing extraordinary has occurred at Berkshire; a very long runway, simple and generally sound decisions, the American tailwind and compounding effects produced my current wealth,” Buffett said in a statement. “My will provides that about 99½% of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage.”