The One Reason Warren Buffett Isn’t The World’s Richest Person

Forbes

Warren Buffett shocked the world in 2006, when he pledged to give away nearly all of his vast fortune. Since then, Buffett has donated more than $55 billion worth of his Berkshire Hathaway to charity, including a $5.3 billion gift in late June that knocked him down two spots on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, from 8th to 10th, his lowest ranking in more than two decades. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $128.9 billion.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2024/07/09/the-one-reason-warren-buffett-isnt-the-worlds-richest-person/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, the one reason Warren Buffett isn't the world's richest person.

00:07Warren Buffett shocked the world in 2006 when he pledged to give away nearly all of his vast fortune.

00:13Since then, Buffett has donated more than $55 billion worth of his Berkshire Hathaway to charity,

00:19including a $5.3 billion gift in late June this year

00:23that knocked him down two spots on Forbes' list of the world's richest people, from 8th to 10th,

00:28his lowest ranking in more than two decades.

00:32Forbes estimates his net worth to be $128.9 billion.

00:37But what if Buffett, who is 93 years old and perhaps the greatest philanthropist in history,

00:42had instead decided to keep all his Berkshire shares for himself?

00:47Buffett owned 474,998 Class A shares, then worth around $43 billion,

00:54when he made that historic announcement in the summer of 2006.

00:58If he still owned all that stock today, he'd be sitting on a pile of stock worth $292 billion.

01:06Add in another $1 billion or so worth of Class B shares and personal investments,

01:11and a less charitable Buffett would have a fortune of around $293 billion.

01:17That would make him some $41 billion richer than the planet's current number one, Elon Musk,

01:22whose net worth is $252.4 billion, $77 billion ahead of number two, Jeff Bezos,

01:29who's worth $215.9 billion, and $102 billion above number three, Bernard Arnault, who's worth $191 billion.

01:39Instead of being $6 billion poorer than his friend Bill Gates, who's worth $135.2 billion,

01:46Buffett would be worth more than two Bill Gates' combined.

01:50In other words, if Warren Buffett didn't decide to start giving away his wealth,

01:54he would easily be the richest person on Earth.

01:57In fact, by Forbes' estimates, he would be just a hair shy of breaking the record

02:02for having the largest fortune ever recorded, set in 2021, when Musk briefly surpassed $300 billion.

02:10With his theoretical $293 billion fortune, Buffett could personally buy the entire McDonald's Corporation,

02:17all of Coca-Cola's stock, or all 50 of the world's 50 most valuable sports teams.

02:23Instead, the famously frugal Buffett has been working to give away more than 99% of his fortune,

02:29mainly through a summer tradition of donations worth billions of dollars from his stash of stock

02:34to five hand-picked foundations, with each year's gift being 5% fewer shares than the previous years.

02:41Buffett once wrote, quote,

02:43My family and I will give up nothing we need or want by fulfilling this 99% pledge.

02:48I will continue to live in a manner that gives me everything that I could possibly want in life.

02:54The majority of Buffett's gifts have gone to a trust that funds the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,

03:00which has gotten stock worth more than $43 billion at the time it was gifted.

03:05The $75 billion endowment charity, launched by Buffett's friend and bridge partner Bill Gates,

03:10and his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000,

03:13has put the money to use on poverty and health care initiatives in developing countries

03:17and education and economic mobility in America.

03:21In 2010, Buffett co-founded the Giving Pledge, alongside the Gateses,

03:25to encourage other billionaires to donate at least half their fortunes to charitable causes as well.

03:31Buffett stepped down as a trustee of the Gates Foundation in 2021.

03:36French Gates divorced Gates that same year and left the foundation earlier this month to branch out on her own.

03:43Buffett's three children and a foundation named for his late wife

03:46have gotten the rest of the shares as gifts designated specifically to go to the charities of their choice.

03:52More than $4.8 billion worth of shares, at the time of his gifts,

03:56went to the foundation named for his late wife, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation,

04:01which focuses on health care and education.

04:03That sum does not include at least $2.9 billion given to the foundation by Susan's estate following her death in 2004.

04:11And Buffett has given more than $8 billion in total, at the time of his gifts,

04:15to his children's three charities, the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the Novo Foundation.

04:24For full coverage, check out Chase Peterson Whithorn's piece on Forbes.com.

04:30This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:32Thanks for tuning in.

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