Warren Buffett donates $ 3.4 billion to charity

Warren Buffett gave another huge slice of his sprawling wealth

The legendary investor gave $ 3.4 billion Monday in his annual gift Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKA ) shares, according to a company statement.

As in the past, the fund went to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as to four foundations with ties to the Buffett family: Buffett's Educational Charity, which bears his late wife's name Susan; the Sherwood Foundation, presided over by their daughter; the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, led by his son; and the NoVo Foundation, led by Peter, the youngest son of Buffett and his wife Jennifer.

Including the gift announced Monday, Buffett has now donated $ 31 billion to these groups.

In 2006, Buffett announced his intention to gradually donate all of his Berkshire shares.

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Since then, he has encouraged other rich people to focus on philanthropy.

Buffett launched The Giving Pledge with Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010. The initiative encourages the world's billionaires to publicly dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

Buffett is worth more than $ 82 billion, according to Forbes. He is the third richest man on the planet behind Jeff Bezos, CEO of Gates and Amazon, whose net worth reached $ 150 billion Monday.

CNNMoney (New York) First published July 16, 2018: 18:09 ET