ABSTRACT
Shortly before lunchtime of June 26, 2006, the then second-richest man in the world stepped onto a stage in the New York Public Library to be greeted by a standing ovation from several hundred of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the city. After saying a few words, Warren Buffett, whose record of brilliant investment decisions had earned him the nickname “Sage of Omaha,” reached into his jacket pocket, took out a pen, and with a flourish began to sign five letters, each one promising a part of his fortune. “The first three letters are easy to sign. I just sign Dad,” he joked, before handing a billion-dollar letter starting “Dear Suze” to his only daughter. The next letter he gave to his elder son; the third, to his second son; the fourth to a representative of his late wife, Susan, who had died two years earlier.
