Buffett Donates Again

    Warren Buffett gave $2.9 billion to charity this week, and his Berkshire stock donations since 2006 are worth more than $37 billion.

    Despite his generosity, his fortunes have been accumulating more and more over the years. With a fortune of $68.6 billion, he ranks eighth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the lowest ranking since the index began in 2012, as the recent boom in technology stocks has rewritten the index.

    Six of the world's seven richest people are in tech, including No. 1 Jeff Bezos, whose net worth has increased by $68 billion this year. Then there's Ballmer, whose wealth increased by $18 billion. Tech wealth was the best performer in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up 25% in 2020.

    Buffett may be happy that his charitable giving can shrink his fortune. As his wealth continued to grow, his promise to give away his entire fortune became more difficult to fulfill. In his latest shareholder letter, he said it would take 12 to 15 years after his death to dispose of the shares in his estate.