Warren Buffett

Buffett's wealth

In 2008, Buffett was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately $62 billion. In 2009, after donating billions of dollars to charity, he was ranked as the second richest man in the United States with a net worth of $37 billion with only Bill Gates ranked higher than Buffett. His net worth had risen to $58.5 billion as of September 2013.

In 1999, Buffett was named the Top Money Manager of the Twentieth Century in a survey by the Carson Group, ahead of Peter Lynch and John Templeton. In 2007, he was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in the world. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Buffett, along with Bill Gates, was named the most influential global thinker in Foreign Policy's 2010 report.

Buffett has written several times of his belief that, in a market economy, the rich earn outsized rewards for their talents. His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. He once commented, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing".

Buffett had long stated his intention to give away his fortune to charity, and in June 2006, he announced a new plan to give 83% of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). He pledged about the equivalent of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth approximately $30.7 billion as of June 23, 2006), making it the largest charitable donation in history, and Buffett one of the leaders of philanthrocapitalism. The foundation will receive 5% of the total each July, beginning in 2006. The pledge is conditional upon three requirements:

Bill or Melinda Gates must be alive and active in BMGF

BMGF must continue to qualify as a charity

Each year BMGF must give away an amount equal to the prior year's Berkshire gift plus the additional 5% of net assets as required of all US foundations

Buffett joined the Gates Foundation's board, but did not plan to be actively involved in the foundation's investments. Buffett announced his resignation as a trustee of the Gates Foundation on June 23, 2021. This represented a significant shift from Buffett's previous statements, to the effect that most of his fortune would pass to his Buffett Foundation. The bulk of the estate of his wife, valued at $2.6 billion, went there when she died in 2004. He also pledged $50 million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in Washington, where he began serving as an adviser in 2002.

In 2006, he auctioned his 2001 Lincoln Town Car on eBay to raise money for Girls, Inc. In 2007, he auctioned a luncheon with himself that raised a final bid of $650,100 for the Glide Foundation. Later auctions raised $2.1 million, $1.7 million and $3.5 million. The winners traditionally dine with Buffett at New York's Smith and Wollensky steak house. The restaurant donates at least $10,000 to Glide each year to host the meal.

In 2009, Ralph Nader wrote the book Only the Super Rich Can Save Us, a novel about "a movement of billionaires led by Warren Buffett and featuring, among others, Ted Turner, George Soros and Barry Diller, who use their fortunes to clean up America". On C-SPAN BookTV, Nader said Buffett invited him to breakfast after the book came out and was "quite intrigued by the book". He also told Nader of his plan to get "billionaires all over the world to donate 50% of their estate to charity or good works". On December 9, 2010, Buffett, Bill Gates, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed a promise they called the "Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge", in which they promise to donate to charity at least half of their wealth, and invite other wealthy people to follow suit. In 2018, after making almost $3.4 billion donations, Buffett was ranked 3rd in the Forbes' List of Billionaires 2018.

Buffett continues to help fund and support his family's individual foundations which include Susan Buffett's Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Susan Alice Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, Howard Graham Buffett's Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation. Warren Buffett was also supportive of his sister Doris Buffett's Letters Foundation and Learning By Giving Foundation.

In November 2022, Buffett made a donation of $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway shares to four charitable foundations run by his children. 1.5 million Class B shares of his conglomerate to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his first wife. He also transferred 300,000 Class B shares each to three funds managed by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation. As of 2023, Buffett has given over $50 billion to charitable causes.

In June 2025, Buffett donated $6 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares to five chariatable foundations. The shares were majorly donated to gates foundation and other to four charitable foundations run by their children. After this the total amount donated by buffett exceeds $60 billion.