Bill Gates to Warren Buffett: Celebs who won’t leave their kids an inheritance

Being born to ultra-rich parents has many perks – It’s assumed that when your parents are billionaires and successful, you have a privileged life. They often get a hefty inheritance from their wealthy parents. However, several business tycoons like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ted Turner have planned things differently. They will be donating their fortunes to charity and want to teach their kids the value of hard work. You read that right!

Here are 6 celebrities whose kids won’t inherit their wealth:

Bill Gates and Melinda Gates

Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, is one of the richest tycoons in the world. He and his ex-wife Melinda Gates are the biggest names in the tech world.

Even though Bill Gates is worth around $10,560 crore and his ex-wife Melinda Gates is worth $660 crore, the Gates children are not entitled to any inheritance. You read that right!

Both Bill Gates and Melinda Gates have decided to donate the money to philanthropic work and they run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which focuses on the betterment of the human race, helps support educational initiatives, and works toward eradicating diseases and poverty.

In 2018, Bill Gates told This Morning, Bill Gates said, “It’s not a favour to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth. It distorts anything they might do, creating their own path.” However, reports suggest, each might receive a modest amount of USD 10 million.

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett, the American investor with a net worth of over USD 107 billion, believes in living rather a simple life. He will be leaving only USD 2 billion for each of his three children, the Washington Post reported in 2014. Buffett will give away his fortune to charity. He is the co-founder of The Giving Pledge and he’ll be donating 99 per cent of his wealth to charity during his lifetime or at the time of his death.

Elton John

Music legend and LGBTQ+ icon Elton John and his husband David Furnish have also planned to not leave money for their kids. For the unversed, Elton John has over 30 hit albums to his credit. He is the man behind the Oscar-winning song “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” from The Lion King (1994). He has two kids and he feels that they should be brought up in the most ordinary and down-to-earth environment.

As per reports, Elton John has a net worth of nearly USD 500 million. A 2016 Mirror report quotes 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 adds, “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.”

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig is known for his swanky cars and luxurious clothes and lifestyle, but if you’d know him personally, you’ll realize that Daniel Craig wishes to get rid of his own money or give it away to charity or some trust funds before his kids inherit it. He has two children — one with his wife Rachel Weisz and the other is a daughter named Ella, with his former wife Fiona Loudon.

As per reports, the actor took home USD 100 million for playing detective Benoit Blanc in Knives Out. He charged USD 25 million for The Glass Onion for his final portrayal of James Bond in No Time To Die. All of these make up his USD 160 million net worth.

However, as per Insider, he told Saga Magazine 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.”

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder, and CEO, has also planned to not give anything to their children. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most successful billionaires with a net worth of over USD 62 billion. As per Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife spends USD 3 billion to help cure, end, or manage all diseases by 2100.

Zuckerberg penned an open letter on Facebook just after the birth of his first daughter Max. He wrote, “Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today.”

The letter further read, “Technological progress in every field means your life should be dramatically better than ours today. We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation.”

Zuckerberg added, “As you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation.” He also said, “We will give 99% of our Facebook shares — currently about $45 billion — during our lives to advance this mission.”

Gordon Ramsay

Three Michelin stars Chef Gordon Ramsay has a net worth of around USD 220 million. However, he has decided to not give anything to his five children — Tilly, Megan, Holly Anna, Jack Scott, and Oscar.

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2017, the Chef 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.”

He also added, “They haven’t worked anywhere near hard enough to afford that.”