He didn’t. Child disbursed more than half the shares he received, he said in an interview with Bloomberg News this month. Recipients include his children, as well as American Indian Services, which provides scholarships for Native Americans, and local schools -- Weber State University, Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, and Dixie State University.
“We decided the best use of our money was to give it away,” Child said.
Berkshire billionaires -- or their estates -- are out there, according to a Dec. 12, 2012 news release from the company.
Long-Time Shareholder
“Berkshire Hathaway has purchased 9,200 of its Class A shares at $131,000 per share from the estate of a long-time shareholder,” it said.
Those shares were valued at $1.2 billion that day. FlightSafety founder Ueltschi died two months beforehand.
Two people associated with Buffett’s pre-Berkshire partnerships died in the 14 months before the release. The first was Bernard Sarnat, a plastic surgeon and craniofacial specialist in Los Angeles who died in October 2011. His 98-year- old wife, Rhoda, was a cousin of Buffett’s mentor, Benjamin Graham.
The couple is mentioned in “The Snowball,” a Buffett biography by Alice Schroeder. The book says they invested $10,000 initially into one of Buffett’s early partnerships, which he consolidated into Buffett Partnership Ltd. in 1962. In order for their fortune to exceed $1 billion today, they would have had to purchase additional Berkshire shares.
Calls to Rhoda Sarnat’s residence were not returned.
Buffett Partnerships