Buffett donates $1.5-bn Berkshire shares

NEW YORK: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has donated about $1.5 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock, in connection with his 2006 pledge of his holdings to charitable causes. According to a regulatory filing, Buffett on Wednesday donated 428,688 Berkshire Class B shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and 87,884 shares to four family charities.

Following the donations, Buffett still held 350,000 Class A and 1,501,532 Class B shares of Berkshire, together worth about $36.1 billion based on Wednesday closing prices. Buffett said he still has a 25.8% stake in Berkshire, and 31.6% of the company���s voting power. A Class B share is worth about 1/30th of a Class A share.