How do you donate $150 billion?

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide for the high-net-worth investor and consumer. subscription To receive future issues, directly to your inbox.

When Peter Buffett learned that he and his brothers would be responsible for giving away the fortunes of their father, Warren Buffett, his response was clear.

“I didn’t want that,” Peter Buffett told CNBC. “I called him up and said, “I want to unsubscribe.” He said: I don’t blame you. “This obviously puts enormous pressure on us.”

In 2024, Warren Buffett announced that after his death, his fortune would be directed to a new charitable foundation overseen by his three children, Susan A. (Susie) Buffett, Howard G. (Howie) Buffett, and Peter Buffett. The 95-year-old’s fortune is now estimated at more than $150 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Adding to the challenge was the legendary investor’s request to donate all funds within 10 years of his death. Another problem: The three must unanimously agree on how to spend the money.

The size of Buffett’s fortune means his children will need to donate at least $15 billion annually, which equates to about 4% of America’s annual charitable donations, according to Giving USA data through 2024. The amounts are likely to increase even more over time, as Buffett’s wealth continues to grow.

“It’s something no one else does, certainly not as a family,” Howie Buffett said.

“It’s just a lot of money,” Susie Buffett adds.

The will has suddenly thrown Buffett’s otherwise low-profile children into the spotlight. After Warren Buffett’s death, Susie, Howie and Peter will become three of the world’s most important philanthropists, scrutinized by the media, widely followed by other wealthy donors and bombarded with requests for money.

In a rare interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick, Buffett’s three heirs said their worldview, priorities and approach to philanthropy began in the Buffett family. As their father’s wealth began to grow, the children lived middle-class or upper-middle-class lives. They took the bus to public school every day. They did housework for an allowance and had jobs.

They said Warren Buffett drove a blue Volkswagen when they were growing up. Their mother, Susan T. Buffett, volunteered in various groups and hosted exchange students from all over the world. When Susie Buffett was in elementary school, she remembers having to fill out a census form listing her father’s occupation and her mother telling her to write “security analyst.”

“I thought he checked the burglar alarms,” ​​Susie Buffett said.

As they continued to raise their families and find their own causes, the Buffett children grew up as philanthropists. Since 2006, Berkshire Hathaway’s longtime CEO has given company stock to each of the three children’s foundations each year, giving each of them more than 20 years of philanthropic experience.

Susie Buffett lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and focuses on early childhood education and social justice, through the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Sherwood Foundation. Howie Buffett, who lives in Illinois and heads the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, devotes more of his time and resources abroad, working on food security and conflict resolution. Peter Buffett, who lives in upstate New York and heads the Novo Foundation, works in health and economic programs for women and children.

They say Warren Buffett did not give the siblings clear instructions about the money. Peter Buffett said his only guidance is that it be used for those “less fortunate.” In his 2024 Thanksgiving speech, Warren Buffett made clear his confidence in giving them so much money and such broad discretion.

“I know all three well and trust them completely,” he wrote. “2006-2024 has given me the opportunity to observe each of my children in action, and they have learned a lot about large-scale philanthropy and human behavior. They enjoy financial comfort, but are not preoccupied with wealth. Their mother, from whom they learned these values, would be very proud of them. Me too.”

Susie, Howie, and Peter will likely focus on different causes, while also funding some joint efforts. The requirement that all payments be unanimous is both a challenge and a blessing, since each sibling can blame the other if they don’t want to fund a cause, they say.

“It makes it really easy to say no,” Susie Buffett said. “It’s like: ‘I’m sorry, I’d love to do it, but my brothers would hate it. So call them.’

As the Buffett family prepares for a historic giving campaign, here are five principles and strategies they say they have relied on around the effective use of capital and philanthropy:

As the world is constantly changing with its needs, philanthropists need to adapt quickly. The public issues they support can change, as can the individual organizations and people they support.

Warren Buffett “would always say, ‘This is what I think is important now. I don’t know whether this will be true 20 years after I die or 10 years after I die,'” Susie Buffett recalls.

Funding programs in Africa, for example, often require working with governments, which are also changing, Howie Buffett said.

“We work in a lot of places where things can happen quickly, like eastern Congo or something like that,” he said. “So we need flexibility.”

Howie Buffett described philanthropy as “the venture capital of the world,” and said foundations need to make bigger bets — even if they fail.

“Sometimes things don’t go the way you think they’ll go,” Susie Buffett added. “Sometimes that’s a good thing. You learn from it.”

Being in Omaha, out of the spotlight, also allows for more experimentation, she added.

“My staff has said to me many times, ‘It’s refreshing to be in a place where we can fail, we can make a mistake,’” said Susie Buffett, noting that her team rarely goes to conferences, where other leaders at nonprofits are more reluctant to take risks and “are afraid to come back and talk about things that might not work.”

However, not all failures are worth celebrating: “It’s not okay to really fail and do something you shouldn’t have done,” said Howie Buffett, “but if you fail for reasons that you know might be challenging, that’s okay.”

Philanthropists can read all the reports and research on a topic, but nothing replaces seeing the problem or population in person.

“I have been to Africa 97 times and this is the 98th time Howie Buffett said, “If I go to Africa I’ll learn something new. Every time you put yourself in a dynamic environment you see things.”

His brother Peter has his own saying: “You won’t know if you don’t go.”

When Peter Buffett created his foundation, he said he felt like he could “change the world.” He then visited Sierra Leone, Liberia and Bangladesh and said the scale of the needs was “overwhelming.” “We slowly backed away.”

Among his current projects is helping the community of Kingston, New York, near his home, where he can stay close to the fabric of daily life and learn about the most effective causes.

“I had to be in a place where I could be there every day,” he said.

Donating more than $150 billion would require writing huge checks in the hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars. Usually, only governments and major institutions can handle such huge gifts. However, as Howie Buffett said: “I don’t trust them very much to make good judgments, or to have big overheads.”

Developing trust and accountability is crucial. Howie Buffett said his grant letters always include a clause stating they can terminate the funds at any time for any reason. It also includes a “no-cost rollover” provision, which requires that any remaining funds from a budgeted project be returned rather than spent on other projects.

Over time, he said he found nonprofits and groups they could rely on.

“We have five or six partners where we regularly give away tens of millions of dollars annually,” he said. “And we’ve built that trust. You know how they work. They know what your expectations are.”

Trust also involves sharing negative outcomes: Susie Buffett said, “I want every bit of bad news if there is bad news.” “You have to be very clear with people, like, ‘I want to hear everything.’”

Just as Warren Buffett maintained a famously low-cost structure throughout his life and at Berkshire, the Buffett family has learned to make the most of every dollar they spend in their philanthropy.

Howie Buffett said his organization’s “dividend ratio,” or operating costs for the money distributed, is just 1.3%.

“It was ingrained in us,” he said. “We know this is what our father expects us to do.”

Having a lean staff and small team also allows for quick decisions, similar to the culture at Berkshire.

“I’ve been in places where I’ve made a $50 million decision right there after a two-hour meeting,” Howie Buffett said. “It’s like we want to do this and we’re going to spend the money.”

Moving quickly with bold bets runs counter to many institutions, which can struggle with layers of decision-makers and bureaucracy.

“They have to have a board meeting, and then the trustees have to look at it and vote on it, and that takes everything away,” Susie Buffett said. “People are always amazed that we do it.”