Warren Buffett said the meeting he and Bill Gates had in Beijing with 50 Chinese leaders in business and philanthropy “was a complete success,” according to a release from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation.
“We had a terrific exchange of views, and learned a great deal about the good work that is already underway,” Buffett said, according to the e-mailed release. “Today’s generation of successful entrepreneurs has the chance to lead and inspire giving for generations to come.”
Buffett, 80, is depleting his fortune, estimated by Forbes magazine at $45 billion, through donations. He has pledged the bulk of his wealth to the Gates Foundation and makes annual gifts to charities seeking to ease hunger, boost education in the U.S. and promote access to abortions. He joined Bill Gates to start the Giving Pledge initiative to elicit greater gifts from billionaires.
Buffett said this month that he wasn’t going to China to pressure people to make donations. The billionaire said in a letter that he didn’t know if the Giving Pledge was the right approach for Chinese philanthropists. Some wealthy Chinese declined an invitation to attend a private gathering with Gates and Buffett in Beijing, Chinese-language newspaper Economic Observer reported.
Buffett, chairman of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said yesterday that China will have to find its own approach to large philanthropy. Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp., thanked attendees for their time, candor and insights.
The 90 minute meeting yesterday evening at the Chateau Lafitte hotel was moderated by Yang Lan, a Chinese talk show host, and was fllowed by a reception. The foundation won’t make the guest list public, according to the release.
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