By Mary Jones | Sunday, June 30, 2024 | 3 min read
Warren Buffett has just announced significant changes to how his considerable fortune will be allocated after his death. The 93-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he has revised his will. Notably, he does not plan to continue donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation posthumously. Instead, Buffett will place his wealth in a new charitable trust that will be overseen by his three children.
Warren Buffett has clarified his plans for his considerable fortune, stating, “The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Buffett explained that he has revised his will multiple times and developed this latest plan because of his confidence in his children’s values and their ability to manage his wealth responsibly. Each of his three children operates their own philanthropic organizations.
“I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100% trust in how they will carry things out,” Buffett told the Journal.
Previously, Warren Buffett had specified in his will that over 99% of his estate would be allocated to philanthropic causes, primarily to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family-connected charities: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.
Currently, Buffett plans to continue his donations to the Gates Foundation during his lifetime. In a recent move, Berkshire Hathaway announced that Buffett is converting approximately 9,000 Class A shares into over 13 million Class B shares. Of these, about 9.3 million shares will be donated to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, while the remaining shares will be distributed among the four Buffett family charities.
“Warren Buffett has been exceedingly generous to the Gates Foundation through more than 18 years of contributions and advice,” said Mark Suzman, the foundation’s chief executive, in a statement to CNN. “We are deeply grateful for his most recent gift and contributions totaling approximately $43 billion to our work.” Despite Melinda Gates announcing her departure from the organization in May, with her last day being June 7, the foundation’s name remains unchanged.
Last year, Buffett donated about $870 million to the four charities run by his family, and around $750 million in 2022.
Following his recent donations, Buffett now holds 207,963 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, valued at approximately $128 billion.
