Warren Buffett’s son says it’s ‘not so easy’ to give away father’s $143bn fortune to charity

Warren Buffett’s son, Howard, has shared his thoughts about one day giving away his father’s $143bn fortune.

Warren, 94, first offered a preview of his will toThe Wall Street Journal in June, revealing that after his death, nearly all of his remaining wealth would be put into a charitable trust overseen by his three children, Susie, 71, Howard, 69, and Peter, 66, all of whom he shared with his late wife, Susan Buffett. The trio will then have 10 years to donate that money to charities of their choosing.

According to Warren’s eldest son, Howard, he’s putting a lot of thought into where he wants to direct his father’s fortune.

“It’s not so easy to give away money if you want to do it smart, if you want to be intelligent about it,” he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “It’s pretty amazing that he’s giving us this opportunity.”

“What this is going to do is we’re going to bring all of our collective experience together,” he added about his brother and sister.

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway will continue to make large donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation until his death. He’s so far entrusted the Microsoft founder’s charitable foundation with $43bn.

Warren will also continue to put his money towards some of his family’s charities, including The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his first wife – Susan – who died after a stroke in 2004 at age 72.

Howard also runs his organization, The Howard G Buffett Foundation, which has focused on conflict mitigation and agriculture around the world. Since 2022, it has donated $800m to humanitarian initiatives in Ukraine during the country’s war with Russia. His contributions have gone towards supporting food distribution at schools, demining activities, and the rebuilding of a major publishing company and a key bridge transporting grain.

Warren’s eldest child – Susie – has also spoken out about her relationship with her billionaire father. During an interview with People in 2017, she said that despite his success, he’s “just not what people expect.”

“I think it’s also probably surprising to people that the money doesn’t matter to him. He made the money sort of by accident because he was really good at doing what he loved, and when you do that particular thing really well, you end up with a whole bunch of money,” she told the publication at the time. “But it’s really true that he does not care about having a bunch of money.”