By Jonathan Stempel
March 31 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett on Tuesday declined to commit to continuing his annual multibillion-dollar donations to the Gates Foundation, following the recent release of materials about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's relationship with the nonprofit and its co-founder Bill Gates.
In his first televised interview since stepping down in January as Berkshire Hathaway's chief executive, Buffett told CNBC he has not spoken with Gates since the U.S. Department of Justice released documents in February, showing that Gates and Epstein met repeatedly to discuss philanthropy following Epstein's 2008 guilty plea to Florida prostitution charges.
Buffett, 95, who remains Berkshire's chairman, began giving away his fortune in 2006, and has donated more than $47 billion of the conglomerate's stock to the Gates Foundation.
He has donated Berkshire stock to the foundation and four family charities annually around mid-year, with additional donations to the family charities in November. Last year's Gates Foundation donation totaled more than $4.5 billion.
"I’ll wait and see what unfolds," Buffett said, when asked if the Gates Foundation donations will continue. "I’m learning things I didn’t know."
In February, the foundation said Bill Gates "took responsibility for his actions" when the Microsoft co-founder discussed Epstein in a town-hall meeting with employees.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation declined to discuss Buffett's comments, but in a statement called him an "extraordinarily generous partner" whose financial support helped "accelerate progress on some of the world's toughest challenges."
In a separate statement, a spokesperson for Bill Gates said: “Gates has acknowledged it was a serious error in judgment to meet with Epstein. As he's stated before, he is committed to answering all questions and demonstrating that he was never a part of Epstein's criminal activity."
In 2024, Buffett said his donations to the Gates Foundation would end when he dies, with 99.5% of his remaining wealth going to a charitable trust overseen by his children.
The New York Times said Buffett had by then grown concerned about the foundation's bloat, and its reduced appetite for taking risks that could lead to more effective philanthropy.
BUFFETT NOT SORRY FOR GATES FOUNDATION DONATIONS
Documents released by the Justice Department included photos of Gates posing with Epstein, as well as with women whose faces are redacted.
Gates has said his relationship with Epstein was confined to philanthropy, and that it was a mistake to meet with him. He has also denied spending time with victims of the financier's sexual abuse.
Earlier this month, Vanity Fair magazine said Epstein appeared to arrange a "large portion" of $8 million in Gates Foundation grants between 2013 and 2019 to a think tank focused on global peace and security, but also possibly associated with securing visas for young Eastern European women.
The foundation told Vanity Fair that Epstein was not involved in its grantmaking processes.
Buffett told CNBC he was not sorry about having donated to the foundation, but wished that "certain things hadn't happened."
He also said he was astounded that Epstein conned so many people before being arrested on sex-trafficking charges in July 2019. Epstein died the following month in a Manhattan jail.
"I don't see how anybody could have pulled that off," Buffett said. "This guy found people's weaknesses ... It is ruining one person after another."
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
