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Warren Buffett gives away another $1.1B and plans for distributing his $147B fortune after his death (apnews.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Summary

Warren Buffett gave $1.1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to family foundations and detailed plans for distributing his $147 billion fortune after his death.

His three children will oversee giving the remainder within 10 years, with designated successors in case they predecease him.

Buffett, 94, reaffirmed his belief in avoiding dynastic wealth, favoring philanthropy instead.

Over the years, he has donated $55 billion to the Gates Foundation but plans to shift focus to his family’s foundations.

Buffett continues leading Berkshire Hathaway while preparing Greg Abel as his successor.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Everyone hates billionaires for hoarding their money, but then it's also a problem when they're giving it away to charity.

Billionaires suck and shouldn't exist, but they do. I know this is going to get downvoted to hell because it seems a majority of the users here can't stand anything remotely positive being said about billionaires. But guys - it's an isolated good thing when billionaires give away large sums of their money to charitable causes. Doesn't mean that they shouldnt pay more in taxes, or that they're wonderful people, or that they accumulated their wealth in moral ways. All of these things can be true at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The question for me is what charities and how they are chosen. What demographics are the charities intending to assist, and who are they potentially intending to exclude? Even through charity, billionaires can push agendas and affect who receives privileges and who doesn't.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Governments are also often guilty of favoring funding towards their favorite causes. Not defending billionaires here, but pouring money into mediatic causes, while ignoring or underfunding less visible causes is definitely a thing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

The trouble is that billionaires who remain sympathetic to Carnegie's "gospel of wealth" are vanishing, while narcissists who see themselves as American oligarchs are proliferating. It isn't hard to see how dynasties could be more politically powerful on a long timescale.

Many would call this a natural progression, and for my part I don't envy whoever ends up on the other side of that debate - money being the root of all evil.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

He should give it to Bernie

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago

Dude could randomly give 147,000 people 1 million dollars but he's more likely to just give it to charities that his buds or family will benefit from.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

Write everyone in the US cheque for ~$400

[–] [email protected] 134 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I once met a wealth manager for a billionaire whose entire job was to donate money as effectively as possible, focusing on infrastructure and education projects in Central and South America. She explained that the challenges are often unexpected.

For example, most smaller local organizations struggle to absorb large sums of money efficiently. Take, for instance, a group that builds homes for those in need. A sudden donation of millions of dollars can be too difficult to manage efficiently. So they try to be mindful of local needs, build trust, and build long-term partnerships.

So, why not just support many small communities? Well, a billion dollars could fund a thousand 1 million$ projects. That’s why this billionaire hired multiple wealth managers just to handle donations. That chat changed my perspective on how difficult it can be to give away large amounts of money.

Still, I’d rather them pay fair taxes.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I was about to say, they should just pay taxes, after all this is what government is for.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yeah, I was very disappointed in Bill Gates for being pro-philanthropy but against higher taxation. That said, Gates and Buffet don't get the final say. The American people just elected an anti-tax fraudulent billionaire.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

But if they donate enough then we will never force them to give up all their excess wealth.

And they like having excess wealth, a lot, like most rich people have hoarding mental disorders.

None of them really want to better society, they just want us to not rip all their skin off and redistribute their wealth so our economies benefit everyone again.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Nah, I don't like that. That's bad. Everybody should have to pay a share to fund public available necessities and uplift people as equals. It's not optional, it being optional demonstrably does not work, and even if it did we shouldn't rely on faith and goodwill.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

Billionaires should be illegal.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 1 week ago (27 children)

"Dragon gives away hoard after death. That will fix all the lives he ruined, right?"

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