From Warren Buffett To Bill Gates, 15 Rich People Who Decided To Not Leave Inheritance For Their Kids

Having rich parents is something many children dream of, right? From having all the luxuries in life to having a financially secure future, children born to rich parents tend to expect all of this.

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But the latter does not turn out to be true for everyone.

In fact, from Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg to Bill Gates, many millionaires and billionaires have already announced that they will donate most or all of their life¡¯s earnings, implying that their children are expected to get next to nothing as an inheritance that would otherwise have been expected from their rich parents.

15 Rich People Whose Children Are Not Likely To Get Inheritance

1.Mark Zuckerberg

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When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg¡¯s first child Max was born in 2015, he and his wife Priscilla Chan made an interesting announcement: They don¡¯t plan to leave her their billions. Instead, the couple founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an LLC dedicated to ¡°personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities¡± around the world.

¡°We will give 99 percent of our Facebook shares ¡ª currently about $45 billion ¡ª during our lives to advance this mission,¡± the couple wrote in a letter posted to Zuckerberg¡¯s Facebook page.

¡°We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others.¡± Mark Zuckerberg is currently worth $105 billion (as per the Bloomberg billionaire index).

2.Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes that not passing on his mammoth fortune to his children "will mean they have to find their own way."

He believes that it will compel them to rely on themselves. ¡°It¡¯s not a favor to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth,¡± he had said, as per CNBC, adding ¡°It distorts anything they might do, creating their own path.¡±

Bill & Melinda Gates have been focusing donations towards their charitable foundation, which aims to eradicate disease, poverty and hunger across the globe. Along with fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda also helped create the Giving Pledge in 2010, which encourages more of the super-rich to leave the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

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3.Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig, who is famously known for playing the role of James Bond, might be out there in his swanky cars and luxe outfits fighting dreaded villains, but when it comes to the person in real life, the actor wishes to get rid of his own money or give it away to charity or some trust funds before his kids inherit it.

Craig has two children ¡ª one with his wife Rachel Weisz and the other is a daughter named Ella, with his former wife Fiona Loudon. None of them is expected to get huge amounts as celebrity inheritance. However, as per Insider, Craig had said in 2020, ¡°My philosophy is to get rid of it or give it away before you go.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave great sums to the next generation,¡± he added, believing his kids should build their own success paths.

Interestingly, his daughter Ella has made a mark for herself as a model and is represented by Ford Models, one of the world¡¯s largest modelling agencies, and has also been featured on the cover of L¡¯Officiel, a luxury French fashion magazine.

4.Gordon Ramsay

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Multiple Michelin stars recipient Chef Gordon Ramsay had decided to not give anything to his five children ¡ª Tilly, Megan, Holly Anna, Jack Scott, and Oscar. Speaking to The Telegraph in 2017, the Chef had said, ¡°It¡¯s definitely not going to them, and that¡¯s not in a mean way; it¡¯s to not spoil them.

The only thing I¡¯ve agreed with Tana is they get a 25 per cent deposit on a flat, but not the whole flat.¡± As per Financialexpress (FE) report, he also added, ¡°They haven¡¯t worked anywhere near hard enough to afford that.¡±

5.Warren Buffett

92-year-old billionaire Buffett had told Fortune in 1986 that he wants to leave his kids ¡±enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.¡å

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As a co-founder of the Giving Pledge along with friend and fellow billionaire Bill Gates, Buffett is committed to donating more than 99 percent of his wealth to charity during his lifetime or at the time of his death.

Also Read: How A Lost iPhone Led To Warren Buffett Investing Billions In Apple

6.Chuck Feeney

At 92, Chuck Feeney, the co-founder of Duty-Free Shoppers Group has been quietly dedicated to donating his entire fortune to charitable causes after signing over everything to Atlantic Philanthropies, the foundation he founded.

In 2020, Chuck Feeney was finally broke and he couldn¡¯t be happier, as per Forbes report. ¡°Chuck was a cornerstone in terms of inspiration for the Giving Pledge,¡± says Warren Buffett. ¡°He¡¯s a model for us all. It¡¯s going to take me 12 years after my death to get done what he¡¯s doing within his lifetime.¡±?

So, as expected, his children won¡¯t be seeing a dime of their inheritance, but they¡¯re understanding of their father¡¯s goodwill, as per FE. ¡°It is eccentric, but he sheltered us from people using the money to treat us differently,¡± his daughter Leslie Feeney Baily told the New York Times. ¡°It made us normal people.¡±

7.Michael Bloomberg

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Rather than leave the entirety of his billion-dollar fortune to his daughters directly, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to invest in philanthropic organizations that will help create a better future for them, as per the CNBC report.

In his Giving Pledge letter, 81-year-old Bloomberg had written ¡°If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing ¡ª by far ¡ª is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children.¡±

8.Andrew Lloyd Webber

Best known for hit musicals such as Phantom of the Opera and Cats, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's five children won¡¯t be getting rich off their dad¡¯s success.

¡°I don¡¯t believe in inherited money at all,¡± Webber had told Mirror back in 2008, as per CNBC. ¡°I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work. So I will give them a start in life but they ain¡¯t going to end up owning [my company].¡± Rather, Webber reportedly hopes his earnings will be put back into theatre and go toward helping upcoming musicians.

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9.Pierre Omidyar

When eBay went public in 1998, co-founder Pierre Omidyar became a billionaire. Today worth $8.1 billion, Omidyar is a member of the Giving Pledge and is committed to donating the majority of his fortune to charitable causes throughout his lifetime.

¡°We have more money than our family will ever need,¡± he and his wife, Pam, wrote in their letter. ¡°There¡¯s no need to hold onto it when it can be put to use today, to help solve some of the w

10.Elton John

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Music legend and LGBTQ+ icon Elton John and his husband David Furnish too planned to not leave money for their kids. A 2016 Mirror report quoted Elton John saying, ¡°Of course, I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state. But it¡¯s terrible to give kids a silver spoon. It ruins their life.¡±

He further added, ¡°Listen, the boys live the most incredible lives, they¡¯re not normal kids, and I¡¯m not pretending they are. But you have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work.¡±

11. George Lucas

The man behind the epic Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises doesn¡¯t believe in passing down his hard-earned money to the next generation as celebrity inheritance. He feels extremely passionate about supporting education and has even founded the George Lucas Educational Foundation to take his cause forward. And in this bid, Lucas donated the entire amount of the Disney deal to the foundation. He also joined The Giving Pledge in 2010 to be a part of global betterment.

Instead of leaving all his money for his four children, Lucas has pledged it for the upliftment of the human race. In his declaration to The Giving Pledge, he writes, ¡°My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages. I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education.¡±

12.Sting

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We all know the 1970s British rock sensation, Sting. Originally named Gordon Sumner, he witnessed a childhood filled with impoverishment and dire financial crises, Sting worked as a bus conductor, construction worker, tax clerk and teacher before making a name as an iconic musician. Therefore, he doesn¡¯t believe in passing any of his bucks to his six children.

In a 2014 interview with The Daily Mail, String said, ¡°I told them there won¡¯t be much money left because we are spending it! We have a lot of commitments. What comes in, we spend, and there isn¡¯t much left.¡± He added, ¡°I certainly don¡¯t want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round their necks.¡± Sting also said, ¡°They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate. Obviously, if they were in trouble I would help them, but I¡¯ve never really had to do that. They have the work ethic that makes them want to succeed on their own merit.¡±

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13.Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher

Actor and venture capitalist Ashton Kutcher met his wife actress Mila Kunis in 1998 on the set of That ¡®70s Show and began formally dating in 2012. The two got hitched in 2015 and are proud parents of two kids ¡ª daughter Wyatt Isabelle and son Dimitri Portwood.

Kutcher and Kunis have made it very clear that they won¡¯t be handing their kids a silver spoon as a celebrity inheritance. Although their father would be too happy to invest in their future businesses, both he nor Mila don¡¯t believe in passing huge amounts of cash otherwise, as per a Lifestyle Asia report.

In 2018, Kutcher was quoted revealing his plans in the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, where he said, ¡°My kids are living a really privileged life, and they don¡¯t even know it.¡±

He added, ¡°I¡¯m not setting up a trust for them. We¡¯ll end up giving our money away to charity and to various things. If my kids want to start a business, and they have a good business plan, I¡¯ll invest in it, but they¡¯re not getting trusts [sic]. So, hopefully, they¡¯ll be motivated to have what they had or some version of what they had.¡±

14.Jackie Chan

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One of the world¡¯s most popular and favourite action stars, Jackie Chan is known for bringing traditional Chinese martial arts to the global screen. He has starred in several blockbuster action films such as Karate Kid (2010), Rush Hour (1998), Crime Story (1993) and The Foreigner (2017), and has won several accolades including the Order of the British Empire in 1989 and an honorary Oscar in 2016.

The actor, producer, philanthropist and UN Goodwill Ambassador is the father of two and had long made up his mind that his children won¡¯t get a slice of the million-dollar pie. According to reports, in 2011, Chan declared that his son won¡¯t see any money coming his way as an inheritance. Chan had announced, ¡°If he is capable, he can make his own money. If he is not, then he will just be wasting my money.¡±

15.Laurene Powell Jobs

When Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, his wife Laurene Powell Jobs inherited enormous wealth in the form of Apple and Disney stocks. And since then she has been gradually reducing her wealth by handing it over to charity. She has a net worth of around USD 12 billion as of now.

Powell Jobs is a philanthropist and founder of the Emerson Collective, an organisation that strives for a better world ¡°where every individual has access to opportunity, health, and well-being,¡± as per its website. In 2016, she launched the Emerson Collective, now called Waverley Street Foundation, with a gift of USD 1.2 billion. In 2021, Powell Jobs pledged to spend a sum of USD 3.5 billion over the next decade to address climate change.

However, the mother of three ¡ª Eve, Reed and Erin Siena ¡ª told The New York Times in 2020, ¡°I inherited my wealth from my husband, who didn¡¯t care about the accumulation of wealth. I¡¯m not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my children know that. If I live long enough, it ends with me.¡±

Also Read: Biggest Charitable Donations Of 2022

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