Warren Buffet's Kids Are The Most Powerful Philanthropists In America

Forbes

The three children of the Oracle of Omaha, already among the nation’s biggest givers, could end up giving away as much as $130 billion of their father’s fortune. Here’s what you need to know about their philanthropy so far.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lindseychoo/2024/07/15/meet-the-most-powerful-philanthropists-in-america-warren-buffetts-kids/  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, meet the most powerful philanthropists in America, Warren Buffett's kids.

00:08Wearing a protective vest, cargo pants, and a helmet, Howard Buffett, the 69-year-old son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett,

00:16holds a camera up to his face with one eye closed.

00:19To his right, a soldier huddles under tarps draped in a tree that forms a makeshift shelter.

00:25A patchy layer of snow covers the ground.

00:28Buffett is in an undisclosed location in the Donetsk Oblast region of eastern Ukraine,

00:33taking photos for a book he published earlier this year via his Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

00:39Called Courage of a Nation, the 220-page book contains pictures that Buffett, an avid photographer,

00:46took in Ukraine during 10 trips to the war-torn country in the first two years after Russia's invasion in February 2022.

00:54His charitable foundation has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to the country,

00:59primarily for food security and conflict mitigation.

01:02Just last year, it distributed roughly a quarter of a billion dollars to groups operating in Ukraine.

01:08And it's on track to donate another $800 million to those efforts this year, Buffett told Yahoo Finance last month.

01:15In his foundation's 2023 annual report, Buffett wrote,

01:20In Ukraine, we are currently responding to the humanitarian crisis created by the full-scale invasion by Russia,

01:26but we have ideas of the role it can play when the war ends and the hard work of recovery begins.

01:32For years, Howard and his siblings, Susie and Peter, have quietly given away their father's money in a big but very low-key way,

01:40so much so that few have noted just how much of an impact they've made.

01:45Between 2001 and 2023, the trio received nearly $7.9 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares

01:52and have given away at least $7.4 billion through their charitable foundations, more than $2.2 billion apiece.

02:00The siblings' lifetime giving would land them on Forbes' 2024 list of the country's 25 Most Generous Philanthropists,

02:07ahead of Charles Koch and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.

02:11These figures don't include $8.8 billion in charitable distributions from 2001 to 2023

02:18by the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after Warren's first wife, who died in 2004.

02:24The foundation is reportedly the largest private U.S. donor to reproductive health groups

02:29and is chaired by their daughter, Susie Buffett.

02:32The spotlight is only going to shine brighter on the siblings in the years to come.

02:37Last year, their 93-year-old father said he was appointing them as future distributors of one of the world's largest fortunes,

02:44nearly $130 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock, as part of his will.

02:49Buffett recently told The Wall Street Journal that the siblings will oversee a charitable trust

02:54that will hold nearly all of Warren Buffett's assets when he dies.

02:58It's not clear why Buffett chose his three children to give away his fortune upon his death,

03:03which has more than 2,000 employees and an infrastructure in place

03:07that enabled it to distribute nearly $8 billion last year.

03:11In 2006, Buffett wrote public letters to Bill and Melinda Gates and to his children,

03:16promising to give each of their foundations a portion of his Berkshire Hathaway shares every June,

03:21with the bulk of the donation going to the Gates Foundation.

03:24At one point in the letter to Bill and Melinda, Buffett referred to it as a, quote,

03:29Later in the letter, he added, quote,

03:42But in late June this year, Buffett told The Wall Street Journal, quote,

03:49His stated reason for the change was that his children have shown they can handle giving away an enormous amount of money.

03:55In a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders last November,

03:58when he first disclosed that his children would be the trustees of a charitable trust

04:02that will receive 99%-plus of his wealth, Buffett wrote, quote,

04:13For full coverage, check out Lindsay Chu and Carrie A. Dolan's piece on Forbes.com.

04:20This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

04:25♪

Category

Transcript

Recommended