Warren Buffett has changed his will again. The Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who has a staggering net worth of $128.4 billion (Rs 10,71,408 crore), spoke to the Wall Street Journal about his new plan regarding how his money will be spent posthumously. And that includes ceasing his generous contributions to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Buffet, who turned 93 last August and has cemented his identity as one of the best investors in the world, has been leading from the front for the multinational conglomerate since 1970. The largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire also pledged to give away 99 per cent of his massive fortune to philanthropic causes.
“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 per cent of my estate is destined for philanthropic usage,” Buffett had famously said in an earlier statement, The Seattle Times reports.
While the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been the frontrunner of these donations, with four other family-related charities — the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation — featuring as recipients of the benefaction, Buffett is redirecting his efforts a bit closer to home.
This is what will happen to Warren Buffett’s $128.4 billion net worth after he passes
“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” the billionaire told The Wall Street Journal, adding that he’s reworked his will a number of times. Going by the latest iteration, his substantial wealth will be directed towards a newly established charitable trust managed by his three children, Susan Alice Buffett, Howard Graham Buffett and Peter Andrew Buffett.
Explaining his decision, Buffett expressed his trust in his children’s values and how they will distribute his wealth. “I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100 per cent trust in how they will carry things out,” he added.
Buffett believes that his three children can come to a unanimous decision on how best to operate their future trust. “It should be used to help the people that haven’t been as lucky as we have been… There’s 8 billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1 per cent or something. There’s lots of ways to help people,” he adds.
As for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has received Buffett’s support since 2006 in an amount that equals something close to $43 billion (Rs 3,58,820 crore), the organisation will continue to be presented with substantial donations as long as Warren Buffett is alive.
As of this moment, Buffett owns about 207,963 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, which, in total, roughly amounts to $128 billion (Rs 10,68,091).
