The Sage's Son: What became of the Buffett billions?
Thanks to Matt for passing this along.
When the super-investor, Warren Buffett, gave a chunk of his fortune to his son, Howard, there was one proviso: it had to be spent on charitable projects. Paola Totaro goes on the road with the billionaire philanthropist
It is a typical midsummer's day, duck-egg blue skies, a wisp of cloud, not a hint of breeze. A convoy of vehicles is burrowing deep into the impossibly green mountains of rural Congo. The first, a flat-top, is bristling with men and machine guns and the last, a jeep, is driven by a brilliant young anthropologist who also happens to be heir to the now defunct Belgian throne. I am in the truck in the middle sitting next to the son of the second richest man in the world.
Howard Buffett, eldest son of the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, is a big man blessed with a big, easy laugh. As we hurtle past forests, fields and farms, you wouldn't know it. The Illinois farmer, photographer and philanthropist has been awake all night fighting a kidney stone in a tiny hotel room in Kindu, one of Congo's poorest and most miserable townships. He is not the type to complain. But he is pale and the last wretched hours are etched on his face.
We've been on the road a few days already: Rwanda first, then carefully, almost surreptitiously, with the help of the UN, over the border into Congo. He is travelling incognito in this dangerous, conflict-torn part of East Africa to avoid VIP fuss.
It has been this way since 2006, when Buffett Snr not only stunned the global financial community by bequeathing $30bn to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but also earmarked $1bn in family company shares to each of his three children. Raised in the knowledge that their father doesn't believe in inherited wealth, the gift was a huge surprise, but the unusual caveat didn't raise a blink from the siblings: the money was theirs but only if they could find ways to give it all away.
- Growing Up With Warren Buffett
From a couple of weeks ago… Link to video: Growing up with Warren BuffettWarren Buffett’s children -- Susie, Howard and Peter -- on growing up in the face of the public and life in the Buffett house.………….. Related previous post: Warren Buffett,...
- The Buffetts On Charity, Succession, And Tv (video)
Found via the Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax. Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway chairman/CEO Warren Buffett, board member Howard G. Buffett and Howard W. Buffett, executive director at Howard G. Buffett Foundation, talk with Betty Liu about...
- Tracy Britt Cool On Management Lessons From Warren Buffett
Thanks to Matt for passing this along. Tracy Britt Cool, Warren Buffett‘s financial assistant at Berkshire Hathaway, says she was already familiar with the billionaire’s investing style when she joined the company in 2009, but working by his side...
- Warren Buffett On Cnbc
Links to the videos from this morning: Buffett: 'We'll Be in Heinz Forever' Buffett: 'We Like Good Companies at Cheap Prices' Buffett on Wealth Effect Fueling Private Jet Travel NetJet CEO on the Business of Private Jets Buffett:...
- Howard Buffett To Be Profiled On "60 Minutes" This Sunday
Thanks to Will for passing this along. Howard Buffett, the son of Warren Buffett, says his dad isn’t surrendering his post atop Berkshire Hathaway “until he’s buried in the ground.” That morbid assessment is included in a profile of the younger...