Gongol.com Archives: December 2024
December 2, 2024
While the news of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend placed considerable attention on the President's decision to pardon his long-troublemaking son, another prominent father passed judgment of a different sort on his offspring. Warren Buffett, who has a nearly $150 billion fortune to his name, announced a plan to entrust the charitable distribution of his wealth to his children when he passes away. ■ Buffett's announcement is unusually frank in its assessment of how his children came to this point: When his first wife died and left behind a $3 billion fortune, "they were not ready to handle the staggering wealth that Berkshire shares had generated". That was in 2004, when they were in their late 40s and early 50s. ■ "Not ready" says a lot, even if it's objectively true that taking over a $3 billion fortune would test the judgment of most people. Barack Obama became President of the United States at age 47. Dwight Eisenhower was 53 years old on D-Day. Plenty of big decisions have been made at middle age. ■ To his credit, though, Buffett has sought to be clear-eyed about his own offspring and their preparedness for big responsibility -- which now includes giving away his enormous fortune (about 50 times larger now than $3 billion) when he dies. "I've never wished to create a dynasty or pursue any plan that extended beyond the children", writes Buffett. "I know the three well and trust them completely. Future generations are another matter [...] And tomorrow's decisions are likely to be better made by three live and well-directed brains than by a dead hand." ■ It's a lesson worth considering in contrast with many other prominent parental choices, including the exercise of a Presidential pardon. Everyone must make their own choices in adulthood, but nobody should be held more responsible for forming a future adult than their parents. The eighteen years (or so) of childhood are both an eternity and an instant. But, actuarially speaking, most people will know their own offspring far longer as adults than as juveniles. Every bit of effort that goes into producing good people from the start matters to what character emerges when they come of age.
