Eduleadership

Warren Buffett, described as a close friend of Bill and Melinda Gates, has decided to leave the bulk of his $44 billion fortune to their health- and education-focused foundation. This will bring the assets of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to over $62 billion.

Until now, Buffett has given little to philanthropy, amassing the wealth and leaving the work of philanthropy to others so his money could compound at a higher rate, he told Fortune. He said he had always planned to have his wife oversee his charitable giving after his death. But after she died — and because he saw an opportunity to invest in an existing, well-respected foundation run by two “ungodly bright” people — he changed plans to start giving it away this year, he told the magazine.

“Neither Susie nor I ever thought we should pass huge amounts of money along to our children,” said Buffett, who said he plans to give away his remaining stock holdings after his death but that he has “quite a bit of cash” he still plans to leave to those close to him. “Our children are great,” he told Fortune. “But I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway, in terms of how they grow up and the opportunities they have for education, including what they learn at home — I would say it’s neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money.” Washington Post

ABC News also reports on the donation plan.