247
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Summary

Warren Buffett gave $1.1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to family foundations and detailed plans for distributing his $147 billion fortune after his death.

His three children will oversee giving the remainder within 10 years, with designated successors in case they predecease him.

Buffett, 94, reaffirmed his belief in avoiding dynastic wealth, favoring philanthropy instead.

Over the years, he has donated $55 billion to the Gates Foundation but plans to shift focus to his family’s foundations.

Buffett continues leading Berkshire Hathaway while preparing Greg Abel as his successor.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] nanami@lemmy.world 134 points 3 days ago

I once met a wealth manager for a billionaire whose entire job was to donate money as effectively as possible, focusing on infrastructure and education projects in Central and South America. She explained that the challenges are often unexpected.

For example, most smaller local organizations struggle to absorb large sums of money efficiently. Take, for instance, a group that builds homes for those in need. A sudden donation of millions of dollars can be too difficult to manage efficiently. So they try to be mindful of local needs, build trust, and build long-term partnerships.

So, why not just support many small communities? Well, a billion dollars could fund a thousand 1 million$ projects. That’s why this billionaire hired multiple wealth managers just to handle donations. That chat changed my perspective on how difficult it can be to give away large amounts of money.

Still, I’d rather them pay fair taxes.

[-] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 62 points 3 days ago

I was about to say, they should just pay taxes, after all this is what government is for.

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yeah, I was very disappointed in Bill Gates for being pro-philanthropy but against higher taxation. That said, Gates and Buffet don't get the final say. The American people just elected an anti-tax fraudulent billionaire.

[-] DeadWorldWalking@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

But if they donate enough then we will never force them to give up all their excess wealth.

And they like having excess wealth, a lot, like most rich people have hoarding mental disorders.

None of them really want to better society, they just want us to not rip all their skin off and redistribute their wealth so our economies benefit everyone again.

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Nah, I don't like that. That's bad. Everybody should have to pay a share to fund public available necessities and uplift people as equals. It's not optional, it being optional demonstrably does not work, and even if it did we shouldn't rely on faith and goodwill.

[-] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Billionaires should be illegal.

[-] trustnoone 14 points 3 days ago

It reminds me of this thing I read where countries would give all these donated designer clothes to some country, only for it to collapse their economy because making clothes was one of the only jobs available there.

[-] Soulg@sh.itjust.works -3 points 3 days ago

They definitely need to pay their fair share of taxes. But even that wouldn't be enough. People will always demand more be done.

this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2024
247 points (95.9% liked)

News

23422 readers
3722 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS