In the next two decades, the heirs of the world's richest are expected to become even richer. An estimated $84 trillion is expected to change hands by 2045 in what has been hailed as the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth—but not all billionaires are there.
Others, like Laurene Powell Jobs, have decided not to leave their wealth to their children. Powell Jobs, whose multibillion-dollar fortune consists mainly of shares in Apple (AAPL) and The Walt Disney Company (DIS) that he inherited from his late husband Steve Jobs, once said that “it's not right for people to accumulate a lot of wealth. .” Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) Warren Buffett designed his will so that his children would inherit a charitable trust that must be withdrawn within a decade instead of a lump sum.
Perhaps the most notable example of an anti-inheritance billionaire is Chuck Feeney, a famous scientist who died in October 2023 with only $2 million, despite having amassed a net worth of nearly $8 billion. Feeney, who made his fortune in the junk-buying business, has given away most of his money for decades through his Atlantic Philanthropies foundation. “It doesn't make sense, but it protected us from people who used money to treat us differently,” one of Feeney's five children said in a 2007 interview. “It made us normal people.”
Here's a look at some of the world's richest people who have decided not to give their children inheritances:
Mark Zuckerberg
As the founder of Facebook (Meta (META)), now Meta Platforms, most of Mark Zuckerberg's $204.5 billion fortune is tied to his ownership of 13 percent of his company's stock. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, however, intend to give 99 percent of their Meta shares away. Shortly after the birth of their first child in 2015, the couple announced their intention to use funds to promote equality, medical development and education through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which has committed more than 6.9 billion in grants since it was founded in 2015. “Our society has a responsibility to invest now to improve the lives of all who come into this world, not those who are already there,” Zuckerberg said at the time.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was established as a limited liability corporation rather than a non-profit foundation, which means it can lobby and make investments. Zuckerberg and Chan, who now have three children together, say any investment made by the organization will be put back into its programs.
Laurene Powell Jobs
With an estimated net worth of $14.9 billion, Laurene Powell Jobs is very lucky to get out. But Powell Jobs, who inherited a fortune from her late husband and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has no plans to give it to her three children. “I'm not interested in legacy wealth structures, and my kids know that,” he told the New York Times in 2020. “Steve wasn't interested in that. If I live long enough, it will end with me.”
Instead of passing his wealth down to his children, Powell Jobs instead aims to distribute his money “in ways that lift people and communities in a sustainable way.” Much of this will likely happen through his umbrella organization the Emerson Collective, which oversees his philanthropy by helping causes including immigration, education and the environment.
Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor gear retailer Patagonia, was once a millionaire with a net worth of $1.2 billion—albeit reluctantly. He gave up his status of ten people in September 2022 when he decided to transfer his company to a trust and a non-profit dedicated to environmental issues. Most of Patagonia is now owned by the non-profit Holdfast Collective, which will donate $100 million a year to fight climate change.
Chouinard's two children played a role in determining the outcome of their father's great fortune. Although the founder of Patagonia considered leaving his company to his heirs, the children themselves said they did not want it. “It was important to them not to be seen as financial gainers,” Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia, told the New York Times in 2022.
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg LP, an empire that builds his private media businesses and Bloomberg Terminal, a financial data service. Although he has accumulated a fortune of $104.7 billion, he does not intend to pass this wealth on to his two children. Instead, he announced last year that his company would eventually be awarded a fund aimed at funding Bloomberg Philanthropies, his philanthropic foundation.
“When I die, the foundation inherits the company,” Bloomberg said during a conference in September 2023. “They, because of tax laws, will have to move it, sell it somewhere or the other within the first five years,” he added. The millionaire also encouraged rich families to employ their children, saying in 2016 that he would never let his daughters work for his company as it would be inappropriate for other employees.
Bill Gates
Although he gave away most of his Microsoft (MSFT) shares to fund his philanthropic Gates Foundation, Bill Gates still has an estimated net worth of $105.3 billion. But his three children shouldn't expect to get much of it. The millionaire has long said that his children will not inherit his great fortune, saying that in 2011 they will be given “a small part” of his wealth and “will have to find their own way.”
In a 2017 Reddit AMA, Gates reportedly remarked that “leaving kids a lot of money is not kind to them” and revealed that he was inspired to leave his children no inheritance after reading Warren Buffett's thoughts on a 1986 Fortune article. the subject. Alongside Buffett and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, the Microsoft co-founder helped launch the Giving Pledge in 2010, a campaign that encouraged the wealthy to give away the majority of their wealth during their lifetime.
Warren Buffett
In an interview praised by Gates, Buffett announced that his three children will “carve their place in the world.” Throwing out large sums of money “just because it came out of the right womb” is “antisocial,” said the founder of Berkshire Hathaway, who has an estimated net worth of $142.5 billion. Buffett has maintained this trend in the decades since, recommending by 2021 that the wealthiest families “leave enough children to do anything but not be able to do anything.”
While Buffett may not be interested in giving his children an inheritance, he has given them money in various ways. In 2006, the billionaire pledged to give all of his Berkshire Hathaway shares to charity, including several family foundations run by his children. Earlier this year, he disclosed plans to transfer his wealth to a charity trust in the event of his death, which will be overseen by his children, who must unanimously agree on where he will donate this money within ten years.
