Becoming Warren Buffett Page #10

his fortune away to charity.

Woman:

Buffett has pledged to give away

the bulk of his fortune

to the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation

and giving more

than 15% of his money

to foundations started by his three

children and his late wife, Susan.

Man 2:
One global health activist

called what Buffett did today

one of the most remarkably selfless

acts that history will ever record.

That's a better hand than I get

at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting.

I'd like to thank you

for coming.

It... it's a great day for me.

It's a great day for my family.

My wife Susie and I had planned

that whatever I made

would go back to society,

and, originally, I thought

she would outlive me

and that she'd make

a big decision on it.

But since her death,

I had to rethink

the best way to get

the money into society

and have it used

in the most effective way,

and I had a solution

staring me in the face.

It was completely out of the blue.

I mean amazing.

The largest single gift

ever given was

what he gave away that day.

I'd like to ask the people

representing those...

various foundations

to come out.

The first three letters are

easy to sign, I just sign "Dad."

Howard:

When he wrote the letter to us,

he put something

in that letter

that was

incredibly important to me,

which was exactly how

our foundation behaves,

which is,

if you're gonna try to bat a thousand,

you won't do very many things

that are important.

But if you're willing to

basically strike out a few times,

you can really change

something big.

I.C.C.N.!

Warren:
Well,

I feel terrific about the fact

that my three children

each run a separate foundation

that combines

their special interests,

whether it's early education

or whether it's farming in areas

where people's techniques for using

small plots of land could use

a lot of improvement.

All kinds of ways...

vaccines, you name it.

Man:

More powerful than Buffett's gift

is the message he's sending

to other wealthy Americans,

that those who have

the least in this world

should benefit from

those who have the most.

Warren:
In my entire lifetime,

everything that I've spent

will be quite a bit less

than one percent

of everything I've made.

The other 99% plus

will go to others,

because it has

no utility to me.

So, it's silly for me

to not transfer that utility

to people who can use it.

It's doing me no good.

Susie Jr.:

I am so proud of what we do.

I almost cry

at every board meeting,

because I just think

she would be so proud.

And that is my biggest job,

in my opinion,

is to make sure

that every penny gets spent

the way she would

want it spent.

Susie:
Whoever you are in this life,

you don't want to think

you wasted a lot

of your energy, love,

and time

on something useless.

I always thought I'd marry a minister,

a doctor, or somebody

out doing

some valuable service

to human beings.

And the fact that I married somebody

who makes just piles of money

is really the antithesis

of what I ever thought,

but I know what he is,

and... he is...

There's no finer human being

than who he is.

Warren:

The truth is that I'm here

in my position

as a matter of luck.

Hey!

How are you doing, Grandpa?

Hey, Grandpa!

Okay.

Warren:

When I was born in 1930,

the odds were probably 40:1 against

me being born in the United States.

I did win the ovarian lottery on that

first day, and on top of that, I was male.

Put that down

as another 50/50 shot

and now the odds are 80:1 against being

born a male in the United States,

and it was enormously

important in my whole life.

To think that that makes me

superior to anyone else

as a human being is just...

I can't follow that line of reasoning.

Perfect!

Okay, good luck.

I think I was lucky to have been

standing alongside Warren Buffett

while he was

becoming Warren Buffett.

He has developed over the years.

He's broadened.

His values extend

through all of his life.

He wants to lead a life

that he and his father,

if his father was still living,

would say was a good one.

I think he's going to end up in the

history books a hundred years from now.

I'm not sure what role

he's going to be assigned.

Will he be famous

for what he did as an investor

or as a philanthropist?

But Warren said that his ambition

in life is to be a teacher.

Warren:

The world is a great movie to watch,

but you don't want

to sleepwalk through life.

The important thing to do

is to look for the job

you would take

if you didn't need a job

and life is wonderful then.

I mean, you'll jump out

of bed in the morning

because you're really

looking forward to the day.

I have...

for over 60 years,

I've been able

to tap dance to work

just 'cause I'm doing

what I love doing and...

and I just feel

very, very lucky.

Okay, class dismissed.

Night.

Kunhardt:

Do you fear death?

Warren:

No, I don't.

I've had a terrific life.

I feel... you know, it's gonna happen,

and I have no idea

what happens after it.

I'm an agnostic, so I...

you know, it may be

terribly interesting.

It may not be interesting

at all. We'll find out.

But physically,

I'm pretty well depreciated.

I'm getting down

to salvage value.

But it really doesn't make

any difference at all.

It doesn't interfere with my work.

It doesn't interfere with my happiness.

It doesn't interfere

with my thinking.

I don't feel any diminution

in my enjoyment of life

or enthusiasm

for life at all.

In fact, in a sense,

the game that I'm in

gets more interesting

all the time.

It's a competitive game.

It's a big game,

and I enjoyed

the game a lot.

Warren:

Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

There's a land

that I heard of

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow

Skies are blue

And the dreams

That you dare to dream

Really do come true

One day I'll wish

upon a star

And wake up where

the clouds

Are far behind me

Where troubles melt

Like lemon drops

Oh, way above

The chimney tops

That's where

You'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow

Blue birds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow

Why then, oh, why can't I?

Somewhere over the rainbow

Blue birds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow

Why then, oh, why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds

fly beyond the rainbow

Why, oh, why

Can't I?

Good night, Susan.

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