Why Warren Buffett Really Cut Off His Granddaughters
By: Hogan Torah
Tags: Charity, Family, Money, Celebrity, Warren Buffett

Being the child or grandchild of notable people isn’t always what you think. I am also descendant of notable people. My father was a member of the original Mickey Mouse Club and shared the silver screen in the 1950’s with Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe.

What did that mean for Erica and I? Not much. Not all parents help their children financially after they become adults.

Warren Buffett’s life philosophy manifested into a fanatical devotion to live like regular people. His public image as Joe Everyday is carefully crafted. His children went to public schools. When they were old enough to drive, they shared the family car.

While his brother and sister bought cars and houses with their inherentence, Peter used the money to buy time. He was a starving artist for the first decade of his career. The money allowed him to focus on his passion which was music.

Peter Buffett lived in poverty in a tiny apartment in San Francisco for almost a decade. He drove a beat up car while his father on average made millions a day.

His first major success was writing the score for the fire dance scene from Dances With Wolves. He is a New York Times Best Selling Author for his book Life Is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment.

Peter composed the score of 500 Nations that won him an Emmy Award for best score. The documentary is the history of the First Nation peoples.

For a time Warren Buffet treated his adopted grandchildren like they were his own. However in 2006, Erica’s twin Nicole appeared in Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson’s documentary, The One Percent, about rich kids.

Nicole didn’t do the movie to trash her adopted family. She’s an artist. Her friend asked her to be in an independent movie she was making. A work of art.

While the rest of the Buffet family kept a low profile, Nicole went on the talk show circuit to promote her new film. Her father supported her decision, but warned her that Warren was unlikely to share in his sentiment.

A month later, the mega-billionaire mailed Nicole a letter in which he cautioned her about the pitfalls of the Buffett name: “People will react to you based on that ‘fact’ rather than who you are or what you have accomplished.” He punctuated the letter by declaring, “I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin.” Nicole was devastated. “He signed the letter ‘Warren,’” she says. “I have a card from him just a year earlier that’s signed ‘Grandpa.” ³

In Warren’s first wife, Susan Buffett’s will, Nicole and Erica were both referred to as “adored grandchildren.” And left them $100,000 each. She added that the identical twins “shall have the same status and benefits … as if they were children of my son, Peter A. Buffett.”⁴

Warren Buffett felt otherwise.

In 2006 Warren announced that he would be giving away most of his money to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and to Charities run by his three children. Warren split almost a billion dollars between his children to found their own charities.⁵

As of the end of 2019 he’d given away half of his money. He intends to give away almost everything. In 2020 Warren Buffett made 20 billion dollars.