Topline
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, 95, announced in his Thanksgiving letter Monday he will speed up the pace of the disbursement of his fortune to his children’s foundations, his latest legacy-related decision after he announced in May he would step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO by year’s end.
Buffett announced the decision Monday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Buffett said in a statement he needed to “step up the pace of lifetime gifts” to his children’s three foundations in order to “improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my entire estate before alternate trustees replace them.”
Buffett will provide about $1.35 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the foundations.
Buffett noted he will keep “a significant amount of ‘A’ shares” until Berkshire shareholders are confident with his successor, Berkshire Hathaway Energy CEO Greg Abel, adding, “My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors.”
The billionaire said in his letter he is “going quiet” and “will no longer be writing Berkshire’s annual report or talking endlessly at the annual meeting.”
Crucial Quote
“All three children now have the maturity, brains, energy and instincts to disburse a large fortune,” Buffett said in his statement. “They may well need to adapt to a significantly changing world around them. Ruling from the grave does not have a great record, and I have never had an urge to do so.”