Buffett

July 8, 2013; Bloomberg

The stock market has recently been very, very good to Warren Buffett, and as a result, he has just donated Berkshire Hathaway shares worth $2.63 billion to a number of foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (named for his late wife); the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, a family charity focused on poverty; the NoVo Foundation, led by Buffett’s son, Peter, and his wife; and the Sherwood Foundation. The Gates Foundation got a lion’s share worth $2 billion, breaking his record of $1.8 billion given from 2008. He has pledged a total of $31 billion to Gates.

Buffet’s net worth was estimated by Forbes at $53.5 billion in March of this year, so he probably won’t miss it.—Ruth McCambridge