Buffett tops 5-year list of most generous billionaires

Warren Buffett gave away $14.7 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock over five years, putting him in the number one slot of Forbes' list of the "Top 25 Billionaire Givers (2014-2018)." (Buffett also topped the magazine's list of the top givers in 2018.)

His five-year total is 16.3% of his current net worth.

Since 2006, when he announced his intention to give away almost all his fortune, Buffett has donated $34 billion. 

Most of that has gone to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with smaller amounts going to foundations run by his children.

Bill and Melinda Gates, close friends of Buffett's, are number two on the Forbes list with a five-year donation total of $9.9 billion, 9% of their current net worth.

The three of them also joined forces in 2010 to create the Giving Pledge.  It currently has 205 wealthy people or families who have agreed to eventually "give the majority of their wealth to address some of society's most pressing problems."

Couple pleads guilty in solar scam that snared Berkshire

The husband-and-wife co-owners of a California solar company have pleaded guilty to an estimated $912 million Ponzi scheme that included Berkshire Hathaway among its victims.

Joel and Paulette Carpoff admitted that their company, DC Solar, pretended to be leasing thousands of mobile solar generators that didn't exist. Prosecutors say the couple used money from new investors to pay earlier investors in funds connected to federal tax credits meant to encourage the use of solar power.

Last May, Berkshire took at $377 million charge after investing $340 million in DC Solar funds because the company believed "it is more likely than not that the income tax benefits that we recognized are not valid."

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

Some links may require a subscription

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

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

Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here. 

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch