Mr Buffett mentioned that he has altered his will multiple times
Warren Buffett has revised the plans for his considerable fortune after his death. Mr Buffett, 93, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, revealed to the Wall Street Journal that he has reworked his will and will not continue donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation posthumously. Instead, he will allocate his wealth to a new charitable trust managed by his three children.
“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Mr Buffett told the Journal.
Mr Buffett mentioned that he has altered his will multiple times, with the latest changes motivated by his confidence in his children’s values and ability to distribute his wealth appropriately. Each of his children has a philanthropic organisation.
“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 said.
Previously, Mr Buffett had stated that over 99% of his estate was designated for philanthropic use by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the four family-related charities: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and NoVo Foundation.
For now, Mr Buffett seems to be continuing his donations to the Gates Foundation during his lifetime.
Berkshire Hathaway announced on Friday that Mr Buffett is converting around 9,000 Class A shares into over 13 million Class B shares. Approximately 9.3 million shares will be allocated to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, with the remainder 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,” Mark Suzman, the foundation’s chief executive, stated to CNN. “We are deeply grateful for his most recent gift and contributions totalling approximately $43 billion to our work.” (Melinda announced in May that she would leave the organization, with her last day being June 7, though the foundation has not yet changed its name.)
Last year, Mr Buffett donated about $870 million to his family’s four charities, and around $750 million to them in 2022.
Following these newly announced donations, Mr Buffett owns 207,963 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, with the total value of these shares being roughly $128 billion.