The fourth richest man in the world is making a huge donation to five foundations.
The Oracle of Omaha is donating $3.6 billion in shares from his investment conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway. So, what are these foundations, and what do they do?
The first recipient is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 and has since sought to provide various essentials to those in need around the globe. The foundation works to tackle inequality and a lack of opportunity by providing healthcare and education. They want to empower women and girls and provide new opportunities through charity-powered development.
Next, there is the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, established by the Oracle of Omaha himself in 1964. The foundation had its name changed in honor of Susan Buffett, who passed in 2004. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation has been providing scholarships to students in Nebraska for over half a century. The scholarships are rolled out on a competitive basis to freshmen who are residents of Nebraska, graduated from a high school in Nebraska, and plan to attend a Nebraska college but are in financial need.
The third foundation is the Omaha-based Sherwood Foundation. The Sherwood Foundation promotes equality in Nebraska through social justice by funding various nonprofit organizations. These nonprofits each have a focus in either urban community partnerships, Omaha’s public schools, rural community partnerships, and early childhood education.
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation is the next on the list. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, named after Warren Buffett’s middle child, focuses on improving the quality of life for the world’s most impoverished people. To meet this end, the foundation focuses on three main concerns: food scarcity, water, and conflict resolution followed by post-conflict development.
Lastly, part of the donation will also go to the NoVo Foundation. The NoVo Foundation focuses on the challenges faced by girls worldwide. The foundation seeks to remedy these problems through the systematic development of several initiatives aimed at fixing the problems faced by girls in the US and global south.
