Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, has disclosed his plans for his vast $130 billion fortune after his death in an interview. He intends for nearly all of it to go into a charitable trust managed by his three children, where they must all agree on causes to support. This decision marks a significant shift, as Buffett revealed that his annual donations to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will cease after his death. His will, which remains largely secret until then, emphasizes philanthropy as a way to help those less fortunate, reflecting his belief in sharing his wealth to benefit humanity.
Tom Ozimek from the Epoch Times reported that Warren Buffett, the 93-year-old creator of Berkshire Hathaway, has published the specifics of his will, which directs his massive $130 billion fortune to charity after his death.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he stated that he expects to put nearly all of his vast fortune into a charitable trust that will benefit the less fortunate.
“It should be used to help those who have not been as fortunate as we have,” Mr. Buffett told the site.
His three children—Howard, Susan, and Peter Buffett—will oversee the trust, he stated. According to Mr. Buffett, all three must agree on the charity before a donation can be made.
“There’s 8 billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1 percent or something,” he said. “There’s lots of ways to help people.”
In 2006, Mr. Buffett pledged to make annual donations to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as four family foundations.
It was unclear what he intended to do with his money following his death. However, in the June 28 interview, he stated that his donations to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would come to a stop.
“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Mr. Buffett told the publication.
Aside from that, the billionaire investor has not dictated to his children how to spend the money.
“I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100 percent trust in how they will carry things out,” Mr. Buffett said.
In a June 28 statement, he stated that the complete details of his will will be kept secret until his death, but that his Nov. 21, 2023, letter to shareholders outlined procedures of his will that are “unlikely to be changed before my death.”
‘Playing in Extra Innings’
In the letter dated November 21, 2023, Mr. Buffett acknowledged his elderly age while offering light on the future management of his huge fortune.
“I feel good but fully realize I am playing in extra innings,” he wrote.
At the time, Mr. Buffett stated that his three children would be executors of his will and trustees of a benevolent trust that would receive more than 99 percent of his wealth.
He stated in the letter that when he began giving away his riches in 2006, his children were unprepared to take on the “awesome responsibility” of overseeing the process.
“They are now,” Mr. Buffett said.
In a statement issued on June 28, he announced the donation of $5.3 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities.
The $5.3 billion was his largest annual donation to date, bringing his total charitable contributions to about $57 billion.
Despite giving away more than half of his Berkshire stock since 2006, Mr. Buffett still holds around one-seventh of all outstanding shares.
“I have no debts and my remaining A shares are worth about $127 billion, roughly 99 1/2 percent of my net worth,” he said in the statement. “Nothing extraordinary has occurred at Berkshire; a very long runway, simple but generally sound capital deployment, the American tailwind, and compounding effects produced my current wealth.
“My will provides that more than 99 percent of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage.”
Aside from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Buffett has donated to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which funds abortion drugs; the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which works to alleviate hunger and improve public safety; the Sherwood Foundation, which supports Nebraska nonprofits; and the NoVo Foundation, which focuses on minority girls and women.
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported on how, during the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Peter Flaherty, the chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, exposed the putrid underbelly of woke capitalism.
