Warren Buffett Resigns As Trustee At Gates Foundation

(RTTNews) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has announced his resignation as a trustee from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"For years I have been a trustee - an inactive trustee at that - of only one recipient of my funds, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMG). I am now resigning from that post, just as I have done at all corporate boards other than Berkshire's," Buffett said in a statement.

Buffett's resignation from the Gates Foundation board comes at a time when the philanthropic organization's founders Bill Gates and Melinda Gates have announced their divorce plans.

The power couple had led the Gates Foundation, the world's largest charitable foundation, for nearly two decades. The foundation has spent nearly $54 billion since 2000 in various philanthropic activities.

Buffett had served as a trustee of the foundation since 2006. The Gates Foundation was one of five beneficiaries of Buffett's philanthropic works.

The Berkshire chairman also said he is giving away $4.1 billion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shares to the five foundations.

He added that he is now halfway through the pledge he made in 2006 to distribute all his Berkshire shares, more than 99% of his net worth, to philanthropy.

"In June of 2006, I owned 474,998 "A" shares. Now, I own 238,624 shares, worth about $100 billion. All remain destined for philanthropy. Having reached the midway point of my plan, I would like to supply a bit of history and suggest a few subjects for further thought by philanthropists, government and the public," he added.