17 Celebs Who Won't Leave Their Kids An Inheritance
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
1.Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
Actor Mila Kunis and her actor and venture capitalist husband Ashton Kutcher have made it clear to their kids that they aren't getting a slice of the million dollar pie. In a podcast hosted by Dax Shepard, Kutcher revealed, "My kids are living a really privileged life, and they don’t even know it. And they’ll never know it because this is the only one that they’ll know. I’m not setting up a trust for them. We’ll end up giving our money away to charity and to various things."
2.Jackie Chan
This action superstar who made most of his fortune by swinging, shooting, kicking, and punching in movies of the Hong Kong film industry chose to not give away his hard-earned moolah to his son as inheritance more than 20 years ago. He had famously declared in 2011, "If he is capable, he can make his own money. If he is not, then he will just be wasting my money." That's some really hardcore parenting and hardcore charity.
3.Bill Gates
The former richest person on Earth and still a billionaire with mind-numbing wealth, Bill Gates has been quite passionate about giving away most of his wealth for causes supporting the eradication of diseases, poverty, and hunger. He is a prolific philanthropist, and with his former wife, Melinda Gates, he founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to donate their money. Gates once said in an interview, "It’s not a favor to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth. It distorts anything they might do, creating their own path."
4.Gordon Ramsay
5.Simon Cowell
The TV producer and wisecracking judge who brought us wildly popular hit shows like The X Factor, American Idol, and America's Got Talent declared in 2013, "I’m going to leave my money to somebody. A charity, probably — kids and dogs. I don’t believe in passing on from one generation to another." He is a firm believer that one's legacy should be about helping others succeed rather than dumping money in their kids' bank accounts. He said, "Your legacy has to be that hopefully you gave enough people an opportunity, so that they could do well, and you gave them your time, taught them what you know.”
6.Marie Osmond
Singer and talk show host Marie Osmond isn't too keen on leaving behind her fortune for her kids as easy money. She made her decision public in 2020 on her show. She said, "Congratulations, kids. My husband and I decided that you do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gift you can give your children, and that's the ability to work."
7.Daniel Craig
The man who has been the face of Bond movies since 2005 is staunchly against the concept of inheritance. The actor, who reportedly received $25 million for his final role as the British spy and will receive $100 million from Netflix for the sequels to Knives Out, made his intentions clear when he told a magazine, "My philosophy is to get rid of it or give it away before you go. I don't want to leave great sums to the next generation."
8.Sir Elton John
This man just can't stop doing things that make us love him more. The musician and LGBTQ icon, who is father to two boys, once revealed that after getting inspired by Warren Buffett, he and his husband, David Furnish, do not intend on letting their kids inherit all of their wealth. He said, "Of course I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state. But it’s terrible to give kids a silver spoon. It ruins their life." He also added, "Anything beyond the basic, they have to go out and earn it themselves. If they want a Picasso, they have to go out and earn it. I think there’s real sensibility in that."
9.Sting
10.George Lucas
According to Forbes, Lucas's net worth stands at $7.1 billion, of which he made $4.05 billion alone from the sale of his Star Wars franchise to Disney. Lucas is quite strong on supporting education, and he also founded George Lucas Educational Foundation. He donated almost all of the money from the Disney deal to support educational initiatives. As a signatory of the Giving Pledge, he has declared, "I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race."
11.Kevin O'Leary
Businessman and Shark Tank shark Kevin O'Leary is very clear about respecting hard-earned money, and the best way to do that is by giving it away for charitable purposes instead of letting his kids inherit. “I am not planning on giving my kids any of my wealth. They know that when their education is over, I’m pushing them out of the nest. You want to prepare your children for launching their own lives. I tell wealthy parents that if they don’t kick their kids out of the house and put them under the stresses of the real world, they will fail to launch. They will become unsuccessful adults," he told a magazine in 2013.
12.Mark Zuckerberg
13.Laurene Powell Jobs
As the widow of former Apple CEO and tech magnate Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell Jobs inherited stocks in Apple and Disney worth billions of dollars after her husband's demise in 2011. In an interview, she explained her decision of leaving behind most of her money to charity instead of to her offspring. She said, "I inherited my wealth from my husband, who didn’t care about the accumulation of wealth. I’m not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my children know that. If I live long enough, it ends with me.”
14.Michael Bloomberg
The billionaire and former mayor of New York City, too, felt that his money deserves to end up in charity rather than inflating his kids' bank accounts. He revealed the rationale behind his decision in his Giving Pledge letter. "If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing — by far — is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children," he wrote.
15.MacKenzie Scott
16.Andrew Lloyd Webber
The famous British musician once said in an interview, "I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work." He plans on donating his fortune for the cause of theaters and music. He adds, "We could use the royalties to encourage everything from bursaries to young artists and composers. I feel I owe a debt, and that is very largely due to the success not only in Britain but also the rest of the world. "
17.Bernard Marcus
The man who co-founded Home Depot is worth $8.8 billion today, and he is desirous of leaving an enormous chunk of his enormous fortune to his foundation after his death. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “I’ve got all the houses I need. I live very well. My kids are taken care of. Everything I live for now is finding the right things to put my money into, and that can give me a rate of return in emotion and doing good things for this world.”
He elaborated in his Giving Pledge letter, "It has always been my belief that leaving enormous wealth for our children does nothing to stimulate their ability to make it on their own. I too believe that all our efforts in creating the wealth that we have would give us a great deal more joy if we were to disperse as much of it during our lifetimes."
