Warren Buffett, the 93-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has recently changed his will, altering the future of his vast wealth. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Buffett revealed that his money will no longer go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after his death. Instead, it will be managed by a new charitable trust run by his three children (Howard Graham Buffett, Peter Buffett, Susan Buffett).
“The Gates Foundation will not receive any more money after I die,” Mr. Buffett said. He has changed his will several times, but this latest adjustment reflects his faith in his children’s values and their ability to use his wealth wisely. Each of his children already has a philanthropic organization. “I am very confident in my children’s values and their ability to handle my wealth,” Buffett added.
In the past, Mr. Buffett had pledged that over 99% of his estate would go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.
Currently, Mr. Buffett continues to donate to the Gates Foundation while he is alive. Berkshire Hathaway announced that Mr. Buffett is converting around 9,000 Class A shares into over 13 million Class B shares. About 9.3 million of these shares will go to the Gates Foundation Trust, with the rest going to the four family charities. Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, expressed gratitude for Mr. Buffett’s generosity, stating, “Warren Buffett has been incredibly generous to the Gates Foundation for over 18 years. We deeply appreciate his latest gift and his total contributions of around $43 billion.”
Last year, Mr. Buffett donated around $870 million to his family’s four charities and about $750 million to them in 2022. Following these donations, Mr. Buffett still owns 207,963 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, valued at approximately $128 billion.