Warren Buffett arranges a will: more than 99% of his wealth will be donated to charity after his death
Warren Buffett will turn 93 on the 30th of this month. He said that after his death, more than 99% of his wealth will be donated to charity.
"At 93 I feel good, but I'm fully aware that I'm playing extra time. ”
According to foreign media reports, on November 21, local time, Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said that he had donated about 866 million US dollars (about 6.2 billion yuan) worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares to four family charities.
Berkshire Hathaway, meanwhile, released a letter from Buffett to shareholders explaining the reasons for the donation and saying that the company already has a "suitable CEO" to replace him, as well as a "suitable board of directors." What is particularly noteworthy is that in the letter, Buffett once again promised that more than 99% of his wealth will be donated to charity.
Warren Buffett's arrangement
From Berkshire's public information, it is known that the 4 charities and the distribution of shares are:
Buffett donated 1.5 million shares of Berkshire Class B to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late first wife, dedicated to reproductive health.
Buffett also donated an additional 900,000 Class B shares, divided equally between the charities run by his three children, Howard, Susan and Peter. These donations complement Buffett's donation of $759 million in Berkshire stock to charity this time last year.
Warren Buffett's eldest son Howard (top left), daughter Susan (bottom left) and youngest son Peter (right)
The three charities managed by the three children of the "God of Stocks" are Howard J. The G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, and the Novo Foundation.
It is understood that Howard M. The G. Buffett Foundation has been focused on philanthropic causes such as alleviating hunger, reducing conflict, combating human trafficking, and improving public safety. The Sherwood Foundation is a non-profit organization in Nebraska that focuses specifically on women and people who are oppressed because of race, sexual orientation, religion. The Novo Foundation, on the other hand, aims to support initiatives that focus on girls and women.
In the letter, Buffett said that the three children are the executors of his will and the designated trustees of the charitable trust fund, which will receive almost all of Buffett's wealth.
The matter of the world's wealthy people making wills has naturally attracted attention from the outside world. Some netizens drew the key points from this will: "The estate establishes a charitable foundation, so that there is no inheritance tax, and the asset loss is almost zero, worthy of Buffett!"
Berkshire's heir?
According to public information, Buffett has been running Berkshire Hathaway, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1965. The group is home to dozens of businesses, including BNSF Rail, Geico Motor Insurance, energy and industrial companies, as well as familiar consumer brands such as Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom. The company also recently held more than $318 billion worth of shares, about half of which were Apples.
At the beginning of August this year, Berkshire Hathaway announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2023, and its operating profit exceeded the 10 billion mark for the first time, reaching 10.04 billion US dollars (about 72.188 billion yuan at that time). Warren Buffett owns 15% of Berkshire. According to foreign media public news, Warren Buffett surpassed Gates to become the fifth richest person in the world with a net worth of $121.5 billion at that time.
On November 30, Buffett will turn 93 years old. Although he has limited his influence over Berkshire for years, he has never publicly expressed his willingness to resign.
People will eventually come to the end. In the letter, Buffett wrote: "I'm 93 years old, I feel good, but I'm fully aware that I'm playing overtime. ”
On the topic of succession, as early as the shareholder meeting in May this year, Buffett said that Greg Abel (Greg Abel) will definitely inherit some of the work he is doing now.
As for Berkshire's successor, Buffett said that there will be a suitable CEO to replace him, and there will be a suitable board of directors. He noted that Berkshire, as one of the largest and most diverse companies in the world, inevitably encounters human errors in judgment and behavior, which occur in all large organizations, but these errors are unlikely to be serious at Berkshire and will be recognized and corrected.
It is reported that the 61-year-old Berkshire vice chairman Reg Abel will succeed Buffett as Berkshire's CEO, while Buffett's son, Howard Buffett, will become the non-executive chairman.
In the letter, Buffett assured Berkshire's shareholders that the empire he had cultivated over the past six decades would stand the test of time, even without his oversight.
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Text, Editor丨Xu Yanna, All Media Center of "Zhejiang Merchants".
Review|Yu Guangzhu, Xu Yanna
Producer|Feng Yongming