Warren Buffett wants to give away virtually all of his nearly $150 billion fortune within the next nine years. He should donate some of that money to Trump Accounts, Brad Gerstner says.
“Buffett is the greatest investor of all time – synonymous w the American Dream,” Gerstner, Altimeter Capital’s founder and CEO and the architect of the Trump Accounts initiative, said in an X post this week.
“So as he considers donating all of his Berkshire shares by 2034 – along w Howard, Susie & Peter – there could be no more fitting legacy on this 250th anniversary of America than sponsoring a Buffett dividend of Berkshire shares directly to 70 M American kids accounts to seed the next 250 yrs of American capitalism.”
Gerstner added that he and tech billionaire Michael Dell “look forward to sharing our pitch.”
Trump Accounts, launched this month, are tax-advantaged savings accounts for under-18s with a Social Security number. Children born between 2025 and 2028 can receive a one-time $1,000 federal deposit.
Their families, employers, and others can then contribute up to $5,000 per year. Money in the accounts can be invested in low-cost US equity funds or exchange-traded funds. When the child turns 18, the account converts into a traditional IRA.
Buffett hasn’t commented on Trump Accounts or the possibility of a “Buffett dividend,” but he has long championed investing as early as possible in a low-fee, broad-market index fund, then holding for the long run as the most reliable way to build wealth over a lifetime.
Lawrence Cunningham, the author of “The Essays of Warren Buffett” and the director of the University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center, told Business Insider last summer that the investing logic behind Trump Accounts aligned with Buffett’s core principles.
“Buffett would likely agree that giving more Americans a long-term stake in the market — especially through low-cost vehicles like the S&P 500 — is both financially sound and socially beneficial,” Cunningham said.
The Berkshire Hathaway chairman bought his first share at age 11 and turns 96 in August, meaning he’s been investing in the stock market for roughly 85 years. Compounding his wealth over such a long period has helped make him one of the 10 richest people on the planet.
Buffett announced this week that he wants to donate all of his Berkshire stock — which makes up more than 99% of his net worth — to four of his family’s foundations within about eight years, and have his three children distribute it all to good causes by the end of 2034.
He’s given away more than half of his Berkshire stock since 2006. The Gates Foundation received the lion’s share of those annual gifts, but it was left off the recipient list this year.
Buffett explained in a rare televised interview on Wednesday that he now believes his kids — Susan, Howard, and Peter — are ready to dispense his Berkshire fortune.
