The Wall Street Journal

The mateship behind the gift of $65 billion to charity

The mateship behind the gift of $65 billion to charity
Warren Buffett (left) regarded his pal Bill Gates’ foundation as the best-equipped option to handle so much money. (Image: Getty)
The Wall Street Journal
By Roger LowensteinIn 1957, an investor named Warren Buffett wrote to a friend that he was troubled by the question of how to bequeath his fortune. He was only 26 and had no fortune, but he was confident he would amass one and was vexed by the problem of how much to leave to his children and what to do with the balance.A half-century later, in 2006, Buffett – then America’s second-richest man – found his answer: He would give 85% of his billions to five foundations, with the great bulk going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Found...

More Books

‘How Things Are Made’: The Speed of Industry
The Life Review

‘How Things Are Made’: The Speed of Industry

Manufacturers face an overabundance of data.  

‘Into the Ice’ Review: North by Northwest
The Life

‘Into the Ice’ Review: North by Northwest

In pursuit of a post-pandemic adventure, the author sailed icy Arctic waterways.

The currents of US currency
Books

The currents of US currency

Could the US dollar's reign be coming to an end?

‘After Lives’ Review: The biographer’s art
The Life

‘After Lives’ Review: The biographer’s art

Essays by a writer of literary lives on the obsessions and obstacles endemic to her trade.