Funding $7 billion in 2022 for work in 141 countries, the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the most recognizable -- and largest -- philanthropic organizations around. From initiatives supporting gender equality to global health, the foundation proclaims that it's "guided by the belief that every life has equal value."

To provide its ample financial assistance to so many, the foundation has developed a strong investment portfolio that includes a variety of stocks. But it's two stocks, Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) and Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI), that do the heavy lifting, accounting for more than 34% of its holdings. Two Motley Fool contributors examine why these two tickers hold such prominent places in the foundation's portfolio.

Lee Samaha (Berkshire Hathaway): Although Warren Buffett is no longer a trustee of the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation, his influence still looms large in its investments. Not least because Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made up the Foundation Trust's third-largest holding as of the first quarter of 2023.

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Source Fool.com