The super-rich who won't leave their fortunes to their kids

The super-rich who refuse to give their kids an easy ride

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You might assume that people born to wealthy parents are set for life. However, not every child of the rich and famous has been lucky enough to have a fortune handed to them on a plate.

Read on to discover the super-rich parents who refuse to give their kids an easy ride.

All dollar amounts in US dollars

Mick Jagger

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The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has suggested that the band's post-1971 music catalogue could be destined for charity rather than ending up in the hands of the band's children. In recent years, bands and artists including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young have made staggering sums by selling the rights to their music to record labels and song management companies.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Jagger stated that while he had no intention of selling the lucrative catalogue any time soon, any future proceeds from it could be directed to good causes to "maybe do some good in the world". 

"The children don't need $500 million to live well. Come on", Jagger added.

Gene Simmons

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Gene Simmons, who came from a poor immigrant family before making it big as a rocker in the glam rock band KISS, said his two kids will never get rich off his money: "Every day they should be forced to get up out of bed and go out and work and make their own way". He's not lying, as his family all starred in the reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels over seven seasons.

The rocker has an estimated net wealth today of $400 million (£315m).

Nigella Lawson

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Although British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson had a privileged upbringing herself, she’s gone on record saying she doesn’t want her two children from her first marriage, Cosima and Bruno, to have financial security as it "ruins people not having to earn money".

The food writer and TV presenter has since explained that, though she wants them to support themselves, she won’t be leaving her kids high and dry. Her fortune is thought to be in the region of $20 million (£15.8m).

Daniel Craig

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James Bond star Daniel Craig said, "inheritance is quite distasteful" in an interview with Candis magazine in 2021. Craig has an adult daughter, Ella, from his first marriage to actor Fiona Loudon and a young daughter with current wife Rachel Weisz.

"My philosophy is: get rid of it or give it away before you go", said Craig, who's worth an estimated $160 million (£126m).

Jackie Chan

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The Hong Kong-born actor and martial arts expert who found fame in Hollywood has two children: son Jaycee and daughter Etta Ng. He has his own charity, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, and plans to give away his wealth.

In 2011, he told Channel NewsAsia: "If my son is capable, he can make his own money. If he is not, then he will just be wasting my money". Chan is estimated to be worth a staggering $400 million (£315m).

Gordon Ramsay

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Gordon Ramsay’s no-nonsense attitude applies both in the kitchen and at home. The multimillionaire chef – worth an estimated $220 million (£173m) – revealed that his kids fly in economy as "they haven’t worked hard enough to afford [first class]". And when it comes to inheritance: “It’s definitely not going to them, not in a mean way; it's to not spoil them. The only thing I’ve agreed is they get a 25% deposit on a flat".

Ramsay thinks he’s been lucky in his career and wants his kids to work hard in theirs. And it's already paying off, as Ramsay's daughter Matilda (pictured third from left) has already hosted her own children's cooking show Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, which aired when she was just 14 years old. She's also hit the floor in the UK dance competition Strictly Come Dancing.

Sting

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In 2014, musician and actor Sting told a British newspaper that he didn’t want to leave his six grown children trust funds that would be "albatrosses round their necks". Instead, he plans to spend his hard-earned cash, but he respects his kids’ work ethic as they rarely come to him for help.

Sting is thought to be worth a staggering $550 million (£433m) today.

Simon Cowell

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The British music mogul had his first child Eric in 2014, when he was 54. He told a British newspaper that he didn’t believe in passing on his wealth. Instead, he said, "I’m going to leave my money to somebody. A charity, probably – kids and dogs". Little Eric will benefit, however, as Cowell said he plans to give him "opportunity", "time" and to teach him what he knows.

Cowell, who's also stepfather to his partner Lauren Silverman's son Adam (pictured far left), has a fortune in the region of $600 million (£472m).

Shaquille O’Neal

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Shaquille O’Neal (pictured with his son Shareef) has a reported net worth of $500 million (£394m), but his eight children have one major condition to meet before receiving their share. The NBA star told 7News Australia: "In order to get my cheese, you have to present me with two degrees". That's right, Shaq's children must earn not one, but two college degrees to inherit any money.

Shaq added: "I'm teaching them about generational wealth right now. I tell them all the time, we don't need another NBA player in the house. If you want to play, I can help you get there. But I would rather see a doctor, a dentist, a veterinarian, a world traveller, a hedge fund guy…".

Marie Osmond

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Marie Osmond, member of the famed Osmond showbiz family, won’t be leaving any money to her eight children. The musician-turned-talk show host believes inheritances "breed laziness and entitlement". She said, "Honestly, why would you enable your child to not try and be something? I don't know anybody who becomes anything if they're just handed money".

Instead, Osmond will be leaving her fortune, estimated to be $20 million (£15.8m) today, to charity.

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis

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Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have a combined fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars through their acting careers and Kutcher's lucrative investment portfolio. But they don't intend to leave their riches to their two young children. "I'm not setting up a trust fund for them", Kutcher once said in an interview. He added that he would instead donate his money to charity.

Kunis controversially declared in 2017 that the children wouldn't be receiving Christmas presents since gifts "don't matter" at such a young age. However, Kutcher did state that if his children had good business ideas he'd invest in them.

Kevin O’Leary

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Although he has an estimated $400 million (£315m) net worth to play around with, Canadian businessman, investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary says he won’t be leaving any of it to his children, so they have to acquire a work ethic.

However, he'll ensure that his children’s children and their kids can get an education thanks to a generation-skipping trust. The future looks bright for the O'Leary clan.

Anderson Cooper

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The American news anchor, who's estimated to be worth $50 million (£39.4m), has stated that he won't leave a "pot of gold" for his son when he dies. Instead, the son of the late heiress Gloria Vanderbilt will follow in his mother's footsteps. She previously told him that she'd only pay for his college education.

Cooper, who became a parent in 2020, views inheritances as a "curse", stating that they kill a person's drive to succeed.

George Lucas

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The producer-director and father of four committed to giving up most of his wealth in his Giving Pledge letter. He announced in 2012 that he would use the $4 billion (£2.6bn) made from selling the Star Wars franchise to Disney to fund education, which he believes "is the key to the survival of the human race".

Lucas is currently worth $5.3 billion (£4.2bn).

Elton John

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Sir Elton claims to owe his children – Elijah and Zachary – a lot for making him calm down his extravagant spending habits, but that doesn’t mean his estimated $597 million (£470m) fortune (according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2024) will be going into their bank accounts.

The superstar told Mirror Online: "Of course I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state, but it’s terrible to give kids a silver spoon".

Sara Blakely

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The founder and CEO of underwear company Spanx, Sara Blakely, was the first female billionaire to sign The Giving Pledge, where the super-rich promise to give away most or all of their wealth during their lifetimes. She committed to using the money to "invest in women".

She told her son that she would be donating the majority of her wealth, last estimated at $1.3 billion (£1bn) by Forbes, to other people when he was just three years old. A toddler at the time, he didn’t seem too fazed and just said: "Okay, Mommy, can we do a puzzle now?" Perhaps that conversation was best saved for when he hit kindergarten…

Andrew Lloyd Webber

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The English composer made his $1.2 billion (£945m) fortune from his artistic talent but would rather the money "be used as a way to encourage the arts" rather than creating "a whole load of rich children and grandchildren".

His five children, Imogen and Nicholas from his first marriage and Alastair, William and Isabella from his third marriage, won't receive a massive inheritance from the music maestro.

Ted Turner

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Media magnate Ted Turner has signed The Giving Pledge. Turner wrote in his Giving Pledge letter: "At the time of my death, virtually all my wealth will have gone to charity". It looks like his kids don't mind too much as they're involved in the charitable Turner Foundation, which was set up in 1990. He also launched the United Nations Foundation with a $1 billion gift in 1998.

Turner is currently worth $2.5 billion (£2bn), according to Forbes.

Richard Branson

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Richard Branson was allegedly prompted to sign up to the Giving Pledge in 2013 after a number of house fires caused him to realise that having huge amounts of money won’t make you happy.

The Virgin founder’s adult children likely won’t be too disappointed by Branson’s decision, as Holly (pictured) and Sam Branson are both philanthropists in their own right, having co-founded education charity Big Change. Richard Branson is currently worth $2.6 billion (£2.1bn).

Reed Hastings

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Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix, and wife Patty Quillin had already signed up to The Giving Pledge in 2012 before Netflix really hit its stride and when his fortune was valued at around $280 million. The streaming mogul is now worth $4.7 billion (£3.7bn).

The majority of the Netflix fortune won’t be going to Hastings' two children, but instead will likely fund the education of other people’s children. Hastings is a big advocate of reforming the American education system through charter schools. He also spent time on the California State Board of Education.

Bernard Marcus

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Co-founder of US DIY superstore Home Depot, the businessman and philanthropist has made it clear that it’s for his children’s own good that they won’t be inheriting his wealth. Instead, the majority of his $9.7 billion (£7.6bn) fortune will go to education and his foundation, The Marcus Institute, which helps young people with developmental disabilities.

To date, Marcus has already given away over $1 billion (£787m) to good causes.

Pierre Omidyar

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Since becoming a billionaire at the tender age of 31, the French-born founder of internet giant eBay has donated a fortune to worthy causes. He has a philanthropic investment firm and he and his wife Pam have made a huge contribution to tackling human trafficking.

Omidyar's three children will only see a small proportion of his money as he too has signed up to The Giving Pledge. In his pledge letter, he explained: "Our view is fairly simple. We have more money than our family will ever need. There’s no need to hold onto it when it can be put to use today, to help solve some of the world’s most intractable problems". The eBay founder is currently worth $6.3 billion (£5bn). From 2005 to 2020, he gifted at least 9 million eBay shares per year.

Laurene Powell Jobs

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Laurene Powell Jobs inherited billions when her husband Steve Jobs, one of the co-founders of Apple, died in 2011. Now worth $14.4 billion (£11.3bn), Powell Jobs (pictured with Apple's Tim Cook) has invested some of her fortune, buying stakes in several media outlets and in the organisation that owns the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals.

She also set up a non-profit to help low-income students enter higher education and a charitable foundation focused on social change called the Emerson Collective. However, her three children won't receive her fortune as she's declared that the family's billionaire status "ends with me".

MacKenzie Scott

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MacKenzie Scott has four children with ex-husband Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people in the world. The couple’s high-profile divorce settlement was the most expensive ever made public at $38 billion (£29.9bn) and it made Scott the third-richest woman in the world at the time. The Bezos children won’t necessarily be inheriting wealth from both parents however, as Scott quickly signed The Giving Pledge when she remarried, after having donated almost $6 billion (£4.7bn) to good causes in 2020 alone.

In her Giving Pledge statement, Scott said: "My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty". MacKenzie Scott is currently worth $34.6 billion (£27.2bn).

Michael Bloomberg

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The former mayor of New York made his $106 billion (£83.5bn) fortune from his eponymous media and financial data company. The father of two is a well-known benefactor, having given millions away. He’s also a signed-up member of The Giving Pledge, writing that nearly all of his net worth "will be given away in the years ahead or left to my foundation".

But it's unlikely that Bloomberg's two daughters, Georgina and Emma, disagree since they both work for philanthropic causes.

Larry Page

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The founder and former CEO of Google has said that instead of passing his enormous $148 billion (£117bn) fortune onto his two children, he’d rather give it to people who have a "worthy goal" and would use it to "change the world and make it better".

Page previously listed Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s ambition to go to Mars as a cause he'd like to support and he's a keen investor in various space exploration companies.

Warren Buffett

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The so-called Oracle of Omaha is one of the billionaires behind The Giving Pledge and has stated that he’ll give away 99% of his wealth. To date, he's given away more than $56 billion (£44.1bn).

Buffett is currently worth $136 billion (£107bn). One of Buffett’s most famous quotes is about not leaving his vast fortune to his children: "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".

Mark Zuckerberg

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Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking site Facebook, and his wife Priscilla Chan know the value of the $175 billion (£138bn) empire they’ve created. And instead of handing their fortune over to their daughters Maxima and August, they’re going to let them find their own way in life.

After the birth of their first daughter in 2015, the couple pledged to donate 99% of their Facebook shares – about $45 billion (£28bn) at the time of pledging – to the Zuckerberg Foundation.

Elon Musk

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Elon Musk may be one of the richest people on the planet, but that doesn't mean his kids will inherit his $213 billion (£168bn) fortune.

The Tesla CEO signed The Giving Pledge in 2012 and has reportedly donated more than $12.9 billion (£10.2bn) to causes including renewable energy, science and engineering education.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates

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Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, pictured with eldest daughter Jennifer, formed their eponymous foundation in 1994, then in 2010 created The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett.

The billionaire Microsoft magnate, who's currently worth $134 billion (£106bn), doesn’t think it would be "good either for my kids or society" to leave too much to his three children. Instead Gates reportedly said in 2017 they’ll receive $10 million (£7.9m) each.

To date, Bill Gates has donated more than $59 billion (£46.5bn) to the Gates Foundation. Melinda French Gates, one of the most powerful women in philanthropy, is currently worth $11 billion (£8.7bn).

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