6/27/06

Warren Buffett gives away his fortune

We were sitting in a Manhattan living room on a spring afternoon, and Warren Buffett warned with a grin, "Brace yourself." He then described a momentous change in his thinking. Within months, he said, he would begin to give away his Berkshire Hathaway fortune, then and now worth well over $40 billion.

This news was indeed stunning. Buffett, 75, has for decades said his wealth would go to philanthropy but has just as steadily indicated the handoff would be made at his death. Now he was revising the timetable.

I know what I want to do," he said, "and it makes sense to get going." And it is typical Buffett: rational, original, breaking the mold of how extremely rich people donate money.

[Excerpt of article by Carol J. Loomis, Fortune]

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