Who will get Warren Buffett’s fortune after his death? “No money for the Gates Foundation…” says billionaire

Warren Buffett, 93, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has changed his plans regarding his wealth after his death.

Investor Warren Buffett announced an additional $5.3 billion for charity last week, but at the same time revealed his long-standing giving plan, saying he would stop donating to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his $128 billion fortune.

Advertising

Advertising

Buffett outlined his new plan for his wealth in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. According to his plan from early 2006, Buffett has donated about $55 billion worth of Berkshire stock to five foundations, with the largest share going to the Gates Foundation. The other four foundations are linked to his family, including the foundations run by each of his children.

“The Gates Foundation will have no money after I die,” Buffett said. He left the Gates Foundation board in 2021 after Bill Gates announced that he and Melinda French Gates were divorcing.

Buffett’s new plan for wealth distribution after his death

In his first pledge to the Gates Foundation in 2006, Buffett wrote that he planned to include the foundation in his will. “I will soon prepare a new will providing for a continuation of this pledge by distribution of the remaining reserved shares or otherwise after my death,” he wrote at the time, referring to the annual gifts of Berkshire Hathaway stock he pledged.

But now Buffett said in a statement on Friday that his original promises were only valid until his death.

Buffett will let his children decide what to do with his Berkshire shares, just as he does now when he lets foundations decide how to use his gifts. He said they already know what his fundraising goal is.

“It should be used to help the people who are not as fortunate as we are,” Buffett told the Journal. “There are eight billion people in the world, and I and my children are in the luckiest hundredth of one percent or so. There are many ways to help people.”

Gates Foundation on Buffett’s new plan

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, said in a statement that he appreciated Buffett’s generosity over the years.

“Warren Buffett has given extraordinarily generous gifts and advice to the Gates Foundation for over 18 years,” said Suzman. He has played an invaluable role in promoting and shaping the foundation’s work to create a world where everyone can live healthy, productive lives. We are deeply grateful for his recent gift and contributions totaling approximately $43 billion to our work.”

“Nothing extraordinary happened at Berkshire; a very long track record of success, a simple but overall solid deployment of capital, the American tailwind and the effects of compound interest have produced my current wealth,” Buffett said in a statement. “My will provides that more than 99% of my assets will go to charity.”

He has left the decision on how his donations are distributed to his children and the Gates Foundation. Howard Buffett has donated more than $500 million to Ukraine since the war to help the war-torn regions.

Who will be chairman after Warren? Buffett’s death?

Buffett will still own 207,963 Berkshire Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares after selling just over 13 million Class B shares. Because of the voting power of the Class A shares, Buffett continues to have by far the greatest say in the affairs of the giant Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, which he leads as chairman and CEO. He has not bought or sold Berkshire shares in the past 18 years.

Buffett has said that one of his vice presidents, Greg Abel, who already runs all of Berkshire’s non-insurance businesses, will take over as CEO after he leaves. Berkshire owns a diverse range of manufacturing, retail and services businesses, including railroad BNSF, several major utilities, Dairy Queen and Precision Castparts. Insurance companies, including Geico and General Reinsurance, are also a core part of Berkshire, and the company owns a huge stock portfolio dominated by iconic companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express and Bank of America.

Buffett’s son Howard, who already sits on Berkshire’s board of directors, is expected to become chairman after his father’s death. However, Buffett’s children will not play an active role in the company’s day-to-day operations.

(With inputs from AP)