Bill Gates’ foundation trust trims its Berkshire Hathaway stake by $818 million and adds to a new position in Home Depot, a report says

Bill Gates’ charitable investment vehicle, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, reduced its investment exposure to Berkshire Hathaway by about $818 million, according to a market report published by Yahoo Finance on Aug. 21, 2026.

The same report says the Trust did not simply rebalance inside Berkshire, but also opened a new position in Home Depot, the U.S. home-improvement retailer whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

In practical terms, such a move can announcement a shift in portfolio risk and sector exposure. Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company with broad investments across finance, industrials, and consumer businesses, while Home Depot is concentrated in retail and home-related demand. Moving funds between the two changes the portfolio’s sensitivity to different economic factors such as construction activity, housing turnover, and consumer spending.

Berkshire Hathaway shares (NYSE: BRK.B) have long been a cornerstone holding for many large investors, and the Gates Foundation Trust is among the better-known long-term shareholders tied to the company’s investment philosophy. A reduction of the scale described in the report would be notable because it implies the Trust believes the risk-return balance no longer matches its prior sizing of the Berkshire position.

The report also framed the activity as part of the Trust’s ongoing portfolio management, rather than as a response to any single corporate event at Berkshire Hathaway or Home Depot. However, the report did not provide additional operational detail on why the Trust made the change, such as whether the trimming reflected a specific thesis, tax considerations, or simply a broader rebalance.

For Berkshire Hathaway, the Gates Foundation Trust is not an operational counterparty, so the change is best understood as an investment decision rather than a governance or business decision. For Home Depot, the addition would be relevant in the context of investor sentiment toward the company’s earnings power, but a single new institutional position does not, by itself, indicate a near-term change in fundamental performance.

Still, investors and readers should note that the Yahoo Finance report, as presented here, does not specify the number of shares involved, the dates of the transactions, or the filing documents it references. Without those details, it is not possible to verify the exact trade timing, whether the $818 million figure corresponds to gross sales, net reductions, or an estimate based on market value at a particular time.

Looking ahead, the next useful checkpoint would be whether the Trust’s activity is reflected in updated disclosures that specify transaction dates and share counts. Those filings can clarify whether the Berkshire reduction was a one-off adjustment or part of a broader pattern of reallocating across the Trust’s public-market holdings. For Home Depot, attention would likely focus on whether the position size expands further in subsequent disclosures.