Warren Buffett is marking the holiday season by donating $1.1 billion in stock to charities on Monday while he also made updates to his will.
Buffett’s Donations
Buffett, the 94-year-old investing titan and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, announced on Monday he will renew his Thanksgiving tradition of giving by donating $1.1 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four of his family’s foundations.
This is not the first time Buffett has given sizable donations as he and his family began donating with the distribution of his late wife’s $3 billion estate after her death in 2004.
Donations grew after Buffett announced plans in 2006 to make annual gifts to the foundations run by his kids along with the one he and his wife started, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks an event in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 5, 2019. Buffett is marking the holiday season by donating $1.1 billion in stock to charities on Monday as he is also making updates to his will.
Nati Harnik/AP
If Buffett and his first wife had never given away any of their Berkshire shares, the family’s fortune would be worth nearly $364 billion, making him the world’s richest man, but Buffett said he had no regrets about his giving over the years.
To date, the Gates Foundation has received the lion’s share—$55 billion—though Buffett’s contributions will cease after his passing with his children taking the reins of his philanthropic mission.
Updates to Buffett’s Will
New details have also been shared about the future of Buffett’s $147 billion fortune, which will be distributed over a decade by his three kids following his death.
In addition, while Buffett has long entrusted his three children—Howard, Peter and Susie—with the responsibility of successors he has now named undisclosed successors in case they are unable to fulfill the task due to the possibility his children could die before giving it all away.
While he didn’t identify the successors, he said his kids all know them and agree they would be good choices.
“Father time always wins. But he can be fickle—indeed unfair and even cruel—sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit,” the 94-year-old Buffett said in a letter to his fellow shareholders.
“To date, I’ve been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me. There is, however, a downside to my good fortune in avoiding his notice. The expected life span of my children has materially diminished since the 2006 pledge. They are now 71, 69 and 66.”
Buffett has said he still has no interest in creating dynastic wealth in his family and believes “hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing.”
This principle has shaped his family’s legacy, as well as the massive fortune amassed through Berkshire Hathaway’s savvy investments and compounding returns. Despite his extraordinary wealth, Buffett has famously led a modest lifestyle, residing in the same Omaha home for decades and avoiding extravagant displays of riches.
“As a family, we have had everything we needed or simply liked, but we have not sought enjoyment from the fact that others craved what we had,” he said.
Meanwhile, Buffett also reiterated on Monday a key piece of advice to every parent to share their wills with family while still alive. This practice, he said, will help to make sure they have a chance to explain their decisions about how to distribute their belongings, as well as prevent any confusion and discord.
Though Buffett remains at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, he has delegated much of the company’s operational duties. His chosen successor, Greg Abel, is poised to lead the conglomerate after Buffett’s death, ensuring the continuity of the empire he built.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.