Warren Buffett breaks from ‘lifetime’ pledge to the Gates Foundation as the Epstein fallout deepens

The Oracle of Omaha has reportedly paused his annual gift to the Gates Foundation due to the Microsoft cofounder’s ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

People familiar with Buffett’s plans told WSJ Buffett is delaying his decision until later this year, possibly when he releases his annual Thanksgiving letter. This is a major change, considering Buffett, 95, made a “lifetime” pledge to the Gates Foundation and has historically donated billions in Berkshire shares each summer. 

Representatives for Buffett and the Gates Foundation didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Buffett wants to wait for the findings of a review the Gates Foundation has commissioned into its own ties to Epstein, per WSJ. The foundation has retained law firm WilmerHale to conduct it, with findings expected this summer. Buffett has given more than $47 billion to the foundation between 2006 and 2025, according to Reuters.

This pause is the latest sign of distance between Buffett and Gates, who were longtime friends and, along with French Gates, formed the Giving Pledge in 2010 to encourage fellow billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth. Their friendship has cooled, though, since the Justice Department’s Epstein files were released. 

Buffett told CNBC in March he hadn’t spoken with Gates since the files came out, adding that until the matter is cleared up, it doesn’t make sense “to do a lot of talking.”

“I don’t want to be under oath,” Buffett added.

Gates, in a June deposition before the House Oversight Committee, said he had met Epstein in 2011 and called the relationship a “grave error in judgment,” while denying he ever witnessed criminal conduct. 

“In the work I do, reputation is the basis for developing partnerships that save lives,” Gates said. “Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment and put this work at risk. His behavior was antithetical to all my efforts to contribute to a world where everyone has a chance to live a healthy and productive life.”

In early May, Gates also didn’t attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting—where he had served on the board until 2020—for the first time in years.

Melinda French Gates also distanced herself from the foundation

Gates’ own ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, has started distancing themselves from the foundation ever since the flood of Epstein files were released. 

French Gates split from Gates in 2021 after nearly 30 years of marriage and resigned as co-chair of what was then the $63 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2024, walking away with an additional $12.5 billion to commit to her own work on behalf of women and families. She now runs Pivotal, her independent foundation focused on gender equality and global health.

In a February interview with NPR, French Gates said Gates and others named in the files “have to answer” for what’s described in them—”not me.” 

The documents that surfaced in late January show Epstein drafted notes to and about Gates suggesting the billionaire had engaged in extramarital affairs—claims Gates’ representatives have repeatedly denied, calling them “absolutely absurd and completely false.” Subsequent Fortune reporting on the files traced how Epstein spent roughly a decade working to insert himself into Gates’ inner circle—directly and through intermediaries—and kept at it even after Gates stopped communicating with him. 

A Gates spokesperson has said Gates regrets meeting Epstein but never witnessed or engaged in any illegal behavior.

The questions arrive at a pivotal moment for the foundation, which told Fortune first last summer it plans to spend down its endowment and shutter at the end of 2045, accelerating its giving in the years ahead. As it ramps up toward that closure, the foundation has told employees it would cut hundreds of positions in the coming years, even as it remains one of the most consequential philanthropies in the world.