Warren Buffet doles out new $1.1 billion, reveals sharing plan for his wealth after death

Warren Buffet, the world’s seventh wealthiest person according to Bloomberg, has handed out $1.1 billion to four family foundations in his latest philanthropic giveaway, while laying bare the procedure that the distribution of his estate will take after his death.

The largesse from the globally esteemed investor to the beneficiaries, who included The Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation and NoVo Foundation, comes in the form of equity.

The Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation gets 1.5 million B shares, while the three remaining beneficiaries receive 300,000 B shares each, in Berkshire Hathaway, Mr Buffet stated in a letter made public on Monday.

Berkshire, the corporation he helped grow into a conglomerate holding company following acquisition in 1965, is the cornerstone of a $150 billion empire built on stocks. It is worth $1.1 trillion in assets.

“In 2004, before Susie, my first wife, died, the two of us owned 508,998 Class A shares. For decades, we had both thought that she would outlive me and subsequently distribute the vast majority of our large fortune. That was not to be,” Mr Buffet said.

Mrs Buffet bequeathed 96 per cent of her $3 billion wealth to a foundation co-owned with his husband, Mr Buffett stated, and distributed $10 million apiece to her three children.

“These bequests reflected our belief that hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing,” he wrote.

The two sons and a daughter, he pointed out, were not yet prepared to manage the stupendous fortune from their parents investment in Berkshire when their mother passed on.

Long ago, the couple convinced their children to start committing to philanthropic causes in their own little way, which they warmly agreed to, and is now bringing impressive outcomes that Mr Buffet is “pleased with.”

Aged 94, Mr Buffett is brimming with the optimism that his children, the youngest of whom is 66, will faithfully and “gradually” apportion his shareholding in Berkshire, adhering to what he has laid.

The centenarian’s shares in the corporation constitutes 99.5 per cent of his wealth. He has designated the three as potential successor trustees.

“I’ve never wished to create a dynasty or pursue any plan that extended beyond the children. I know the three well and trust them completely. Future generations are another matter. Who can foresee the priorities, intelligence and fidelity of successive generations to deal with the distribution of extraordinary wealth amid what may be a far different philanthropic landscape?,” he remarked.

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“Still, the massive wealth I’ve collected may take longer to deploy than my children live. And tomorrow’s decisions are likely to be better made by three live and well-directed brains than by a dead hand.”

Famously called “the Oracle of Omaha” in homage to how his uncommon ability for picking value stocks has been a guiding light for the investment community, Mr Buffet is often regarded as the greatest equity investor in history.