Warren Buffett stops donating to Gates Foundation for the first time after twenty years

Warren Buffett has stopped including Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ Gates Foundation in his annual Berkshire Hathaway stock donations for the first time in two decades. Instead, the legendary investor is directing this year's gifts to four family-linked foundations. The move marks a departure from a charitable giving pattern that began in 2006. According to Berkshire Hathaway, its chairman, Buffett, will donate 9 million Class B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 1 million Class B shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.Announcing the donations, Buffett also reiterated his plan to distribute the remainder of his Berkshire holdings over the coming years. In a statement announcing the gifts (seen by CNBC), he said, “My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years. As I explained last year, my children are unfortunately growing older.