Warren Buffett gives us a preview of his will
The famed investor, who owns nearly $US130 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock, will direct his fortune into a new charitable trust overseen by his children. But there’s one notable name being left nothing.
Warren Buffett has refined his plans for giving away one of the great fortunes of the modern era.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Buffett -- the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway -- said that after his death nearly all of his remaining wealth will go to a new charitable trust overseen by his daughter and two sons.
The legendary investor also made clear his giving to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to which he has donated billions, will come to an end.
“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Buffett said. The Omaha, Neb., billionaire has already given away more than half his shares of Berkshire, the company he took control of in 1965 and built into a powerhouse. After the latest round of charitable contributions unveiled Friday morning, Buffett owns nearly $130 billion of the company’s stock.
His three children must decide unanimously which philanthropic purposes the money then goes to serve.
Buffett, who is 93 years old, said he hasn’t laid out marching orders for Susie, Howie and Peter Buffett. But he shared his personal perspective about giving.
“It should be used to help the people that haven’t been as lucky as we have been,” he said. “There’s eight billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1% or something. There’s lots of ways to help people.” Back in 2006, Buffett, who had espoused saving philanthropy until his death, announced that he was ready to give. He pledged to make annual gifts throughout his lifetime to the Gates Foundation and four foundations connected to his family. Less clear was what would happen to wealth that remained after his death.
Buffett told the Journal that his donations to the five foundations will continue only while he is alive.
Buffett said he has changed his will several times. He arrived at the current plan after seeing how his children matured over the years.
Susie Buffett, who is 71, lives in Omaha and chairs the Sherwood Foundation, which promotes early childhood education and social justice. She also chairs the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for her mother, Buffett’s first wife, who died in 2004. The foundation funds reproductive rights as well as college scholarships, according to tax filings.
Howie Buffett, who is 69 and lives in Decatur, Ill., farms and heads the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which works for food security, conflict mitigation and combating human trafficking. Both Susie and Howie Buffett serve on the Berkshire board.
Peter Buffett, 66, a music composer living near Kingston, N.Y., and his wife, Jennifer Buffett, lead the NoVo Foundation, whose projects include working with indigenous communities.
“I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100% trust in how they will carry things out,” Warren Buffett told the Journal.
The Berkshire chief executive added that his children will have an advantage over him in responding to any future changes to the laws governing taxes and foundations.
“I like to think I can think outside the box, but I’m not sure if I can think outside the box when it’s 6 feet below the surface and do a better job than three people who are on the surface who I trust completely,” he said.
Berkshire said Friday that Buffett would convert 8,674 of his Class A shares into Class B shares to make another round of donations.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust is receiving Class B shares worth about $4 billion as of Thursday’s closing price, while the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is receiving about $400 million. The foundations of Buffett’s daughter and sons are each receiving more than $280 million in shares. One Class A share carries the ownership stake of 1,500 Class B shares, and A shares have an even greater advantage in voting power.
In 2006, Buffett wrote letters to each of the five foundations that laid out his planned contributions. He designated an allotment of shares for gifts to each foundation. Six years later, Buffett doubled the pledge to his children’s foundations.
Every year, 5% of the remaining shares would be contributed to the respective foundation. That meant the number of shares donated would decline each year, though a rising share price could mean that the value of the gifts would increase. Berkshire’s Class B shares are trading at more than six times their price at the end of June 2006, accounting for a 2010 stock split.
But the wording of those letters left some ambiguity about what would become of shares he owned at the time of his death.
The Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest, is known for its work in global health, as well as poverty and gender equality. From 2006 through 2023, Buffett gave the foundation $39.3 billion, according to a fact sheet on its website.
Chief Executive Mark Suzman said the Gates Foundation is deeply grateful for Buffett’s donations.
“Warren Buffett has been exceedingly generous to the Gates Foundation through more than 18 years of contributions and advice,” Suzman said. “He has played an invaluable role in championing and shaping the foundation’s work to create a world where every person can live a healthy, productive life.” Buffett served as a trustee of the Gates Foundation until 2021; he resigned less than two months after the couple announced their plans to divorce. Melinda French Gates recently resigned from the foundation, with her last day earlier this month.
Buffett declined to say how long his estate plan had been in place. He described its contours in a November press release about supplemental gifts of Berkshire shares to the four family foundations.
In interviews, Buffett’s children said they have made no decisions about how to disburse the billions of dollars.
“We have not talked about what we will do because it seems a little premature,” said Susie Buffett. “I can imagine it will be probably some continuation of what we’ve been doing.” Peter Buffett said their eventual decisions could be affected by everything from stock prices to tax laws to social and political developments.
“There are so many variables, it is impossible really to know what the right decisions will be at the time,” he said.
Howie Buffett acknowledged the size of the task ahead of him and his siblings. “Somebody’s going to have to take responsibility for the amount of money he wants to put into a charitable foundation,” he said. “I think it’s a privilege to do it.”
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