Over the next two decades, an estimated US$84 trillion is expected to be passed from one generation to the next — the largest transfer of wealth in history. But not all billionaires are contributing to this tidal wave of inheritance, as reported by The Observer.

Here are six of the world’s wealthiest people who do not leave their fortunes to their children.

Mark Zuckerberg

With a net worth of $221.2 billion as of May 20, Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta Platforms, has most of his wealth tied to his 13% stake in the company, according to Forbes. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have committed to giving away 99% of their Meta shares.

The couple founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015, pledging their wealth to promote equality, medical innovations, and education. “Our society has an obligation to invest now to improve the lives of all those coming into this world, not just those already here,” Zuckerberg stated.

Zuckerberg and Chan have three daughters: Maxima Chan, 10, August Chan, 8, and Aurelia Chan Zuckerberg, 2.

Laurene Powell Jobs

Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Photo from Instagram

With a fortune of $14.3 billion, Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has made it clear she does not intend to pass her wealth to her children. Most of her wealth comes from shares in Walt Disney and Apple, inherited after her husband’s death in 2011.

“I’m not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my children know that,” Laurene told The New York Times in 2020. “Steve wasn’t interested in that. If I live long enough, it ends with me.”

The couple had two children, Reed, 33, and Erin, 29, and Steve had a daughter from a previous relationship, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, 47.

In 2004, she also founded the Emerson Collective, a social change organization focused on education, immigration, and social justice.

Yvon Chouinard

Yvon Chouinard, founder of outdoor clothing brand Patagonia. Photo from Facebook

Chouinard, founder of outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, transferred his $1.2 billion company to a nonprofit in 2022, losing his billionaire status and significantly reducing his personal wealth.

The Patagonia trust now funds the Holdfast Collective, which donates $100 million annually to fight climate change. Chouinard’s children, Fletcher and Claire, were involved in the decision but chose not to inherit the company, prioritizing its mission.

“It was important to them that they were not seen as the financial beneficiaries,” Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia, told The New York Times in 2022. “They really embody this notion that every billionaire is a policy failure.”

Michael Bloomberg

Special envoy to the United Nations for climate change Michael Bloomberg speaks during the One-on-One discussion panel with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on side of the IMF/World Bank spring meeting in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2018. Photo from Reuters

Bloomberg, who has a fortune of $104.7 billion, is on record as saying he does not plan to leave his wealth to his two daughters, Emma and Georgina.

Instead, he has chosen to pass his company, Bloomberg L.P., which includes his eponymous media businesses and the Bloomberg Terminal, a financial data service, to a trust that will fund Bloomberg Philanthropies, his charitable foundation.

“When I die, the foundation inherits the company,” Bloomberg said in 2023. He later added, “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.”

“Long term, they will benefit more from your philanthropy than from your will.”

Bill Gates

Tech billionaire Bill Gates. Photo courtesy of Gates’ Facebook

Gates, co-founder of Microsoft with a net worth of $115.9 billion, has long maintained that his children will not inherit his vast fortune. In 2011, he stated that they would receive only a ‘minuscule portion’ of his wealth and ‘have to find their own way.’

In a March 2025 interview with Indian podcaster Raj Shamani, the 69-year-old tech mogul said his children, Jennifer, 29, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22, would inherit only a fraction of his wealth.

“In my case, my kids got a great upbringing and education but [will get] less than 1 percent of the total wealth because I decided it wouldn’t be a favor to them,” he explained, as reported by Page Six.

Earlier in May, Gates revealed his plans to distribute ‘virtually all’ of his wealth over the next 20 years to further his philanthropic efforts through the Gates Foundation. “People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” he wrote.

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett at a Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meeting in May, 2018. Photo by Reuters

Buffett, with a fortune of $158.5 billion, is known for his frugality and commitment to charity. While he has pledged to leave a portion of his wealth to his children, he has emphasized that they must establish their own paths in life.

In 1986, Buffett told Fortune“My kids are going to carve out their own place in this world, and they know I’m for them whatever they want to do.”

While Buffett has no interest in giving his children a traditional inheritance, he pledged in 2006 to donate all his Berkshire Hathaway shares to charity. In 2024, he revealed plans to transfer his fortune to a charitable trust upon his death, to be overseen by his children, who must unanimously decide where to donate the funds within ten years.

His children, Howard, Susan, and Peter, are not concerned by the lack of inheritance. In fact, in a 2006 interview with The New York TimesHoward shared his perspective on money: “It was always clear we were not going to get a lot of money.”

“If my dad said, ‘either you can have $50 million a year personally or $50 million a year for the foundation,’ I’d put it in the foundation.”