Warren Buffett just changed how his considerable fortune will be spent following his death.
Buffett, 93, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, told the Wall Street Journal he has again re-worked his will — and that he does not plan to continue donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after he dies. He will put his wealth in a new charitable trust overseen by his three children, he said.
“The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death,” Buffett told the Journal.
Buffett told the Journal he has changed his will several times, and he put together the newest plan due to the trust he has in his children’s values and how they will distribute his wealth. Each of Buffett’s children has 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, Buffett had said his will stated that more than 99% of his estate was earmarked for philanthropic usage to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the four charities connected to his family: the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.
For now, however, Buffett is seemingly planning to continue donations to the Gates Foundation in his lifetime.
Berkshire Hathaway on Friday said that Buffett is converting roughly 9,000 Class A shares into more than 13 million Class B shares. About 9.3 million shares will go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, with the rest split 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, said in a statement to CNN. “We are deeply grateful for his most recent gift and contributions totaling approximately $43 billion to our work.” (Melinda announced in May that she would leave the organization, and her last day was June 7 — but the foundation has not yet changed its name.)
Buffett donated about $870 million last year to the four charities run by his family, and about $750 million to them in 2022.
Following the newly announced donations, Buffett owns 207,963 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares and 2,586 Class B shares, the company said. The shares are worth roughly $128 billion.
