Buffett: I initiated Berkshire's Alphabet stake, downplays Gates-Epstein link in donation decision

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Warren Buffett sat down with CNBC from Omaha, Nebraska, on June 14, 2026. David A. Grogan | CNBC

In a nearly one-hour interview with CNBC's Becky Quick — conducted on the day he publicly revealed he is cutting off the Gates Foundation from future donations — Warren Buffett downplayed the role that Bill Gates' association with Jeffrey Epstein played in that decision.

He also revealed that he initiated Berkshire Hathaway's now $30 billion position in Google-parent Alphabet, a move many had believed was Greg Abel's first major investment decision as CEO.

Buffett: Gates-Epstein Ties 'Distasteful' but Everyone Makes Mistakes

While Warren Buffett found Bill Gates' ties to notorious sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein "distasteful," he said his decision to end future contributions to the Microsoft co-founder's foundation was driven by his three children demonstrating they are now able to responsibly give away "vast sums of money."

Over the same 20 years he gave the Gates Foundation nearly $48 billion in Berkshire shares (as valued at the time of the donations), he also donated almost $18 billion to:

• Susie Buffett's Sherwood Foundation
• The Howard G. Buffett Foundation
• Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation
• The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late first wife

He told Becky, "I'm impressed by the fact that my kids really want to give the money away" efficiently, without constructing huge buildings or holding conferences "at esoteric places and all kinds of things."

Buffett said he did not have that same confidence in his children in 2006, when he started his donations to the Gates Foundation.

Watch Now VIDEO | 9:43 Warren Buffett: Ended Gates donations to give more to my children, not because of Epstein ties Squawk Box

In a March interview with CNBC, Becky asked whether he would continue his "lifetime" commitment to make annual donations to the Gates Foundation, in light of revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files about his connections to Gates.

At that time, he replied: "I'll wait and see what unfolds ... I don't have to make that decision today. And I haven't made it today."

He added: "I've learned things I didn't know about something for all these years."

Now, Buffett says he has read a "great deal" about the matter, including Gates' congressional testimony last month, and presumably the February Wall Street Journal report that in a meeting with foundation staff members, Gates "acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn't involve Epstein's victims."

Buffett's assessment: "While it's distasteful, while he made mistakes, I made mistakes in hiring all kinds of people..."