(Reuters) – Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has donated another roughly $2.86 billion of his holdings in the company’s stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities, as part of his plan to give away nearly his entire fortune.
Buffett’s 11th annual donation to the five charities comprised 19.61 million Class “B” shares of Berkshire, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.
The Gates Foundation, which focuses on improving education and health and reducing poverty, received about 14.96 million shares.
The donations were made on Wednesday, and brought Buffett’s total contributions to the charities to more than $24.3 billion since 2006.
Also receiving donations were the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for Buffett’s late first wife, and the Howard G. Buffett, Sherwood and NoVo Foundations, respectively overseen by his children Howard, Susan and Peter.
Buffett, 85, remains the world’s third-richest person, according to Forbes magazine.
Buffett still owns about 18 percent of Berkshire’s stock, down from 32.3 percent before the donations began in 2006. He controls about 31.7 percent of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate’s voting power.
Before the donations were announced, Forbes estimated Buffett’s net worth at $68.4 billion, trailing Bill Gates’ $77.6 billion and Spanish retailing magnate Amancio Ortega’s $74 billion. Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos followed Buffett, at $64.3 billion.