Warren Buffett ramps up giving to expedite goal of gifting fortune via his children
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Warren Buffett is accelerating his disbursement of stock to the foundations his three children have set up.
The announcement came in a letter from Buffett posted Monday to the Berkshire Hathaway website.
This year’s letter was sent along to shareholders with an announcement that Buffet had converted 1,800 of Berkshire “A shares” into 2.7 million “B shares,” which were then doled out to four family foundations on Monday:
- 1.5 million shares donated to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
- 400,000 shares donated to The Sherwood Foundation
- 400,000 shares donated to The Howard G. Buffett Foundation
- 400,000 shares donated to NoVo Foundation
The 95-year-old says he wanted to step up the donations as his children, too, are advancing in age and he wants to make sure they can achieve his goal of giving away his estate ahead of a time when they themselves might need to be replaced by alternate trustees. Worth about $149 billion, Buffett is the 10th richest person in the world, according to Forbes’ real-time list.
“My children are now at their prime in respect to experience and wisdom but have yet to enter old age. That ‘honeymoon’ period will not last forever,” Buffett says in the letter. “…Those who reach old age need a huge dose of good luck, daily escaping banana peels, natural disasters, drunk or distracted drivers, lightning strikes, you name it.”
Susie Buffett is 72 years old; Howard Buffett is 70 years old; and Peter Buffett is 67 years old.
“As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95. When I was young, this outcome did not look like a good bet. Early on, I nearly died,” Buffett writes, recalling a time as a child when things got “dicey” following an emergeny appendectomy.
Monday’s conversion amounts to $1.3 billion, according to a CNBC report. At about noon Monday, BRK.A shares traded at more than $750,000 apiece; BRK.B shares topped $500 at about that same time.
“I have assured my children that they do not need to perform miracles nor fear failures or disappointments. … They simply need to improve somewhat upon what generally is achieved by government activities and/or private philanthropy, recognizing these other methods of redistribution of wealth have shortcomings as well,” Buffett writes in the letter.
He also emphasized that he’s planning to keep “a significant amount” of A shares for a while yet as shareholders continue to develop a comfort level with incoming CEO Greg Able — such as they did with Buffett and his longtime vice chairman and business partner, Charlie Munger, who died in November 2023.
“That level of confidence shouldn’t take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors,” Buffett says in his letter.
He also restated his confidence in Able, who is set to become CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the start of 2026.
“The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children’s foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects,” Buffett writes. “Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO.”
In the letter, Buffett says he will continue writing to shareholders even in his retirement.
“I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it’s never too late to change,” Buffett writes in the letter.
Read Warren Buffett’s letter to shareholders
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