Posted on August 11, 2004

Most of Susan Buffett Estate to Go to Foundation

The bulk of the estate of the late Susan Buffett, wife of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, will go to a philanthropic organization she led that generated controversy over its contributions to Planned Parenthood and other abortion-rights groups, the Associated Press reports.

Buffett, who was seventy-two when she died of a stroke on July 29, was president of the Omaha-based Buffett Foundation, which has given money to a wide range of organizations and causes, including hospitals, universities, and teachers. At the time of her death, Buffet's estate, which consisted primarily of shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock, was valued at roughly $2.64 billion. Over the next two years, 1,200 to 1,500 shares of Buffett's Class A common stock, priced at $83,750 a share at the close of trading on Monday, will be sold to raise funds for taxes, other expenses, and specific cash bequests. Additional shares with a market value of $150 million will be transferred in equal amounts to three private foundations established by Susan and Warren Buffetts' three children, Howard, Peter, and Susie. The remaining shares, worth more than $2 billion at current prices, will be transferred to the Buffett Foundation.

Warren Buffett, 73, has said that his Berkshire stock, worth about $40 billion, will also be transferred to the foundation upon his death, making it the largest foundation in the United States.