warren buffett
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Warren Buffett, who amassed a $150 billion personal fortune, appoints three independent trustees to oversee his philanthropic efforts for his children and donates an additional $1.1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to four family foundations. He strongly opposes the creation of wealth by “dynasties.”
The 94-year-old legendary investor gave away 99% of his fortune at Berkshire, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate he started running in 1965, in exchange for leaving a huge inheritance to his three children. I’ve been promising for a long time.
Buffett believes that family wealth dynasties can have negative consequences, such as undermining personal growth and complicating relationships. On the other hand, it also creates social uncertainty because it is impossible to predict how future generations will distribute such wealth.
“I have never wanted to create a dynasty or pursue plans beyond my children,” Buffett wrote in a lengthy letter Monday. “I know all three of them very well and have complete trust in them. Future generations are another matter, dealing with an extraordinary distribution of wealth in a very different philanthropic landscape. Who can predict the priorities, intelligence, and loyalty of subsequent generations?
A successor director has been appointed
The Oracle of Omaha, who owns about 37.6% of Berkshire’s Class A stock, said it may take longer than his children’s lives to deploy the assets he has amassed. He appointed three trustees of a charitable trust to distribute the wealth after his children. Buffett’s children are now 71, 69 and 66 years old.
Buffett said, “I have named three candidates to replace me as trustee. Each person is well known to my children and makes sense to all of us. He’s also a little younger,” he wrote. “But these successors are on the waiting list. I hope that Susie, Howie and Peter themselves will pay for all of my assets.”
The identity of the trustee has not been disclosed.
Buffett has donated annually to four family foundations since 2006. He said that through years of observation, he had developed strong confidence in his children’s managerial abilities and philanthropic ambitions.
“From 2006 to 2024, I had the opportunity to observe the activities of each of my children, and they learned a lot about large-scale philanthropy and human behavior,” he said. “They enjoy being financially comfortable, but they are not obsessed with wealth. Their mothers, from whom they learned these values, would be very proud of them.” . So am I.
Buffett’s Berkshire, which topped $1 trillion in market capitalization this year, owns a number of established businesses, from its crown jewel Geico Insurance to BNSF Railway and consumer brands such as Dairy Queen and See’s Candies. There is.
