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From an article by The New York Times: "I don't believe in dynastic wealth", he said, calling those who grow up in wealthy circumstances "members of the lucky sperm club". Buffett has written several times of his belief that, in a market economy, the rich earn outsized rewards for their talents: A market economy creates some lopsided payoffs to participants. The right endowment of vocal chords, anatomical structure, physical strength, or mental powers can produce enormous piles of claim checks (stocks, bonds, and other forms of capital) on future national output. Proper selection of ancestors similarly can result in lifetime supplies of such tickets upon birth. If zero real investment returns diverted a bit greater portion of the national output from such stockholders to equally worthy and hardworking citizens lacking jackpot-producing talents, it would seem unlikely to pose such an insult to an equitable world as to risk Divine Intervention.[121] His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. This is consistent with statements he has made in the past indicating his opposition to the transfer of great fortunes from one generation to the next.[122] Buffett once commented, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing".[123] In June 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[124] He pledged about the equivalent of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth approximately US$30.7 billion as of June 23, 2006),[125] making it the largest charitable donation in history, and Buffett one of the leaders of philanthrocapitalism.[126] The foundation will receive 5% of the total each July, beginning in 2006. (Significantly, however, the pledge is conditional upon the foundation's giving away each year, beginning in 2009, an amount that is at least equal to the value of the entire previous year's gift from Buffett, in addition to 5% of the foundation's net assets.) Buffett joined the Gates Foundation's board, although he did not plan to be actively involved in the foundation's investments.[127][128] This is a significant shift from Buffett's previous statements, to the effect that most of his fortune would pass to his Buffett Foundation.[129] The bulk of the estate of his wife, valued at $2.6 billion, went to there when she died in 2004.[130] He also pledged $50-million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in Washington, where he began serving as an adviser in 2002.[131] In 2006, he auctioned his 2001 Lincoln Town Car[132] on eBay to raise money for Girls, Inc.[133] In 2007, he auctioned a luncheon with himself that raised a final bid of $650,100 for the Glide Foundation.[134] Later auctions raised $2,110,100,[135][136] $1.68 million[137] and $3,456,789. The winners traditionally dine with Buffett at New York's Smith and Wollensky steak house. The restaurant donates at least $10,000 to Glide each year to host the meal.[138] In a letter to Fortune Magazine's website in 2010 Buffett remarked: My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it serves our country well... I've worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mispricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate's distribution of long straws is wildly capricious. [139] This statement was made as part of a joint proposal with Gates to encourage other wealthy individuals to pool parts of their fortunes for charitable purposes. On December 9, 2010, Buffett, Bill Gates, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, signed a promise they called the "Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge", in which they promised to donate to charity at least half of their wealth over time, and invited others among the wealthy to follow suit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett