At 94, Warren Buffett looks back not only on a life full of economic successes but also on his philanthropic mission. On Monday, his investment company Berkshire Hathaway announced that Buffett will again donate shares worth $1.15 billion to four family foundations. With this, Buffett still holds 206,363 Class-A shares valued at around $148 billion.

As in the previous year, Buffett converts 1,600 Class-A shares into 2.4 million Class-B shares before they are transferred to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late first wife, as well as to foundations of his children Susie, Howard, and Peter. These donations complement his annual contributions, which he has been making to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 2006. According to an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Gates Foundation will not receive any further contributions after his death.

Buffett has stipulated that after his death, his children should jointly use the remaining Berkshire shares for charitable purposes. He emphasized the importance of a unanimous decision among the siblings to protect them from a flood of funding requests. "Those who can distribute large sums are constantly seen as a 'target of opportunity'," Buffett wrote in an accompanying letter. The unanimity rule should enable requests to be quickly and definitively rejected.

He added that he had full confidence in his children and hoped they would distribute his assets themselves. Buffett also warned that a quick sale of his Berkshire shares could destabilize the stock price and recommended a gradual divestiture.

In typical didactic manner, Buffett advised parents—regardless of their wealth—to let their children mature and discuss their will with them before signing. "It is better for children to be able to ask questions while the parents can still answer," he explained.

Buffett took the opportunity to emphasize the effect of compound interest: "The true magic of compound interest unfolds in the last twenty years of life." Through prudent actions, he has accumulated enormous sums that are now intended to benefit people who are disadvantaged in life.

Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares have risen 35% this year, surpassing the S&P 500's 25% increase. The company is now among the few US firms with a market capitalization of over one trillion US dollars.