Buffett is nation's "top giver" again

For the fifth straight year, Warren Buffett tops the annual Forbes list of America's most generous philanthropists.

His 2018 giving is listed as $3.4 billion. That's $800 million more than Bill and Melinda Gates, who are number two with $2.6 billion.

Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and current presidential candidate (more or less), is third with $767 million.

The bulk of Buffett's annual contributions, in the form of Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares, goes to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as laid out in a long-term pledge made in 2006. 

Buffett also gives to a number of foundations associated with family members.

In 2010, Buffett joined with Bill and Melinda Gates to create the "Giving Pledge." It calls on very wealthy people and families around the world to "publicly dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy."

As of May, it had 204 pledges from 23 countries.

(See what Buffett has to say about philanthropy and taxes in "Highlights from the Archive" below.)

Berkshire-backed stock rallies to 7-month high

Shares of the Brazilian payments processor StoneCo jumped 20.5% Friday after the company reporting its profits more than doubled in its most recent quarter.

It was reportedly Berkshire portfolio manager Todd Combs who bought around 14 million shares when the company went public last fall. At the end of 2018, the stake was valued at $261 million.

According to the CNBC Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker, those shares are now worth $586 million.

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE

Some critics of Buffett's long-standing call for higher taxes on the rich ask why he's giving so much of his money to charities, avoiding taxes in the process, instead of giving his cash to the government.

In this clip from the CNBC Warren Buffett Archive, he explains his thinking to shareholders at the 2010 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting:

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares closed at $326,962 Friday, up 3.0% over the previous four weeks, and up 3.4% from one year ago.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $217.96, up 2.9% over the previous four weeks, and up 3.4% from one year ago.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at 3110.29, up 2.9% over the previous four weeks, and up 17.4% from one year ago.

BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS 

Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of September 30, 2019, as disclosed in the company's November 14 13F SEC filing.

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

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-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch