Warren Buffett said he would donate about $1.2 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to four family foundations, saying he is confident in the ability of his three children to give away his enormous fortune after his death.
Buffett, 94 years old, amplified on a message he sent last year when he revealed that his three children, Howard, Susan, and Peter Buffett, would be responsible for giving away his wealth, which consists almost entirely of about $148 billion in Berkshire stock.
"The children have now more than justified our hopes and, upon my death, will have full responsibility for gradually distributing all of my Berkshire holdings. These now account for 99 1/2 % of my wealth," Buffett wrote to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, according to a press release Monday.
Buffett said he would convert Monday 1,600 Berkshire Class A shares into 2.4 million Class B shares and donate 1.5 million shares to the Susan T. Buffett Foundation, which is named for his late wife. He will donate 300,000 shares each to the Howard Buffett Foundation; the Sherwood Foundation, run by Susan Buffett; and the NoVo foundation, headed by Peter Buffett.
Buffett now holds 206,363 Class A shares that are worth about $148 billion. Buffett's stake in the company is 14%, but his voting interest is about double that because his ownership is concentrated in supervoting Class A shares.
Berkshire Hathaway stock rose more than 1% to a record high Monday, outpacing a 0.6% gain in the S&P 500 as the broader market rallied. The company is now valued at more than $1 trillion.
In late morning, the Class B stock was up 1.2% to $482.18, while the Class A shares were 1.3% higher at $723,281. The Class B shares are up 35% this year, putting them comfortably ahead of the S&P 500, which has returned about 28% including dividends.
In the letter to Berkshire holders, Buffett said that while he had never wanted to create a plan that went beyond his children, he noted that they are 71, 69, and 66 years old, and may not live long enough to donate his huge fortune.
"As such, three potential successor trustees have been designated. Each is well known to my children and makes sense to all of us," Buffett wrote. "They are also somewhat younger than my children."
A year ago, when Buffett revealed that his children would be responsible for giving away his fortune, he said that he expected the Buffett trust to be self-liquidating "after a decade or so." But he didn't include a mention of the decade in the missive Monday, perhaps recognizing the difficulty of donating so much money over 10 years or so.
Buffett also elaborated on a decision he revealed a year ago, that the donation decisions after his death need to be unanimous among his three children. He noted that wealthy friends have questioned him about that requirement. "How can it be workable?," he said they have asked him.
"I've explained that my children will forever be besieged with earnest requests from very sincere friends and others. A second reality: When large philanthropic gifts are requested, a "no" frequently prompts would-be grantees to ponder a different approach -- another friend, a different project, whatever."
"Those who can distribute huge sums are forever regarded as "targets of opportunity." This unpleasant reality comes with the territory. Hence, the 'unanimous decision' provision. That restriction enables an immediate and final reply to grant-seekers: 'It's not something that would ever receive my brother's consent.' And that answer will improve the lives of my children."
"My unanimity clause, of course, is not a panacea -- it clearly isn't workable if you have nine or ten children or stepchildren. And it doesn't solve the daunting problem of intelligently distributing many billions annually," Buffett wrote.
Buffett wrote that when he was young he had confidence that would become rich. "But in no way did I, or anyone else, dream of the fortunes that have become attainable in America during the last few decades," he said. "It has been mind-blowing -- beyond the imaginations of Ford, Carnegie, Morgan or even Rockefeller. Billions became the new millions.
"Things didn't look great when I arrived at the beginning of The Great Depression. But the real action from compounding takes place in the final twenty years of a lifetime. By not stepping on any banana peels, I now remain in circulation at 94 with huge sums in savings -- call these units of deferred consumption -- that can be passed along to others who were given a very short straw at birth."
"I am also lucky that my philanthropic philosophy has been enthusiastically embraced -- and widened -- by both of my wives. Neither I, Susie Sr. nor Astrid, who succeeded her, believed in dynastic wealth."
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