The rise and fall of the 30-year friendship between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett
August 24, 20240
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Gates and Buffett’s friendship can be traced back to a single day: July 5, 1991.
Gates’ mother, Mary, invited the late Meg Greenfield, a Washington Post editor, to her home. Greenfield planned to bring her friend Buffett, Business Insider previously reported.
Gates didn’t want to take the day off work.
Buffett at a press conference.
Mark Cardwell/Reuters
Buffett didn’t particularly want to meet Gates, either.
“While we’re driving down there, I said, ‘What the hell are we going to spend all day doing with these people? How long do we have to stay to be polite?” Buffett recalled years later to Fortune.
But the pair hit it off immediately.
Buffett and Gates attend a finance conference.
AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
Buffett has attended multiple Microsoft events, but he’s never served on the company’s board or invested in the tech company, Business Insider previously reported.
In 2018, he said it would be a conflict of interest due to their close friendship.
But Gates didn’t have the same concern.
Both men have said they focus on prioritizing tasks and knowing the value of their time.
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Both credit their tremendous success to a laser focus, Alice Schroeder wrote in a biography of Buffett. Gates has written that he’s learned from Buffett how to manage his time by prioritizing certain people and tasks.
Shortly after they first met, Gates said he asked Buffett for his favorite business book recommendation, and Buffett lent Gates his copy of “Business Adventures” by John Brooks.
It’s now Gates’ favorite business book, too, and he still has Buffett’s copy.
Joining together on causes.
Buffett has given billions to the Gates Foundation.
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Buffett has given part of his fortune, including Berkshire stocks, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2006, he committed to giving 99% of his wealth to philanthropy and said the Gates Foundation would be the biggest recipient of his donations in his lifetime.
Buffett’s contributions to Gates’ foundation from 2006 through 2023 total at least $39 billion, accounting for the appreciation of Berkshire stock over time, The New York Times reported.
They’ve advocated for policy change, too.
Gates and Buffett once had fun trying out new mattresses.
The Gates Notes, LLC
Pre-pandemic, they’d been seen trying out mattresses in Buffett’s hometown, enjoying Dairy Queen, and playing ping pong.
In July 2020, Yahoo’s Andy Serwer wrote that during the pandemic Warren and Gates were “talking on a more regular basis.” Buffett told Serwer that the two men scheduled a weekly hourlong call, but they usually exceeded the allotted time.
That same year, Gates resigned from his roles at Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft. The billionaire said he wanted “to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities.”
But things have evolved amid Gates’s life changes.
Gates and French Gates delivered the commencement speech at Stanford University graduates in 2014.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In 2021, Gates and his wife announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage. Shortly after, Buffett resigned from the three-person board at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“My goals are 100% in sync with those of the foundation, and my physical participation is in no way needed to achieve these goals,” Buffett said at the time.
Buffett said his gifts to the foundation won’t continue after he dies.
The two men seem to have drifted apart in recent years, reports say.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
On his blog, Gates once wrote regularly about Buffett.
In 2018, he wrote about how the two friends visited a “fantastic” candy store in Ohama, where Buffett lives and works. In 2019, Gates wrote a post titled “Grilling and chilling with Warren.” In 2020, Gates wished Buffet a happy 90th birthday. It included a photo of him holding a cake with Buffett’s face on it.
But the few posts from 2021 and 2022 that mention Buffett are strictly business. Instead of writing about goofy guys’ trips, Gates thanked Buffett for his generous contributions to the Gates Foundation. In 2023, Gates didn’t mention Buffett in a single post. And in his 20-plus posts so far in 2024, Gates has only mentioned Buffett once, again focusing solely on philanthropy.
