Warren Buffett is accelerating his charitable donations with aim to give

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In a news release this morning, Buffett says, “My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years.”

CNBC’s Becky Quick is sitting down with Buffett in Omaha and we will bring you that interview starting at 6 am ET tomorrow (Wednesday) on “Squawk Box.” 

Buffett, who will be celebrating his 96th birthday next month, now owns stock in the company with a market value of more than $140 billion.

Even without taking into account potential increases in Berkshire’s stock price, that implies gifts of at least $17 billion each year, more than double the $7 billion in stock he donated last year. 

In the release, Buffett says, “Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034.”

That excludes the Gates Foundation from any further donations, ending what Buffett said in 2006 would be a “lifetime pledge” of annual gifts to the charity established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda Gates.

Based on the schedule he set out at that time in which the number of shares decreased by 5% each year, he was due to donate almost $4.5 billion to the Gates Foundation this month.

Last year around this time, Buffett gave the four family foundations around $1.4 billion in gifts, so it appears this year they are also getting the donation originally earmarked for the Gates group.

In this round, Buffett is giving the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late first wife, 9 million Class B shares with a current value of around $4.5 billion.

The three foundations run by his children, Susie Buffett’s Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Peter Buffett’s NoVo Foundation, will each get 1 million Class B shares worth just under $500 million.

The release does not say whether he will also be making gifts to the family foundations at Thanksgiving as he has done in the last four years, but it seems likely given his new eight-year goal.

Last year those contributions totaled around $1.3 billion.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported Buffett was holding back his scheduled donation to the Gates Foundation pending a law firm’s review of the charity’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, with the results expected this summer.

In 2006, Buffett said he was “irrevocably committing to make…