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Buffett hands Bill Gates foundation £762m
03.07.09
Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated $1.25 billion (£762million) in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
It is the third instalment in Buffett's plan to transfer the majority of his wealth to the Seattle-based foundation run by the Microsoft chairman and his wife.
The foundation is the world's largest with an endowment of $27.5 billion as of April 2009.
Last year, before the recession depressed Berkshire Hathaway stock, Buffett's gift of a similar number of shares was worth $1.8 billion - 30% more.
Buffet also donated shares worth $125 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and nearly $50 million each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.
Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 60 companies, including insurance, furniture, carpet, jewellery, restaurants and utility businesses.
