Gordon Ramsay makes his kids fly coach while he kicks back in first class – but it's not quite as cruel as it sounds. And he's not the only very rich person who refuses to spoil his kids either. Click or scroll through the famous names whose kids won't be sharing their wealth – and why.

Aaron Spelling’s wife Candy holds the purse strings when it comes to her late TV producer husband’s $600 million fortune. Their daughter, actress Tori Spelling, received a mere $800,000 from Aaron’s estate and is apparently in regular dispute with her mother, who’s intimated that she’s wary of her daughter overspending.

One-time billionaire Chuck Feeney, co-founder of the Duty-Free Shoppers group, transferred his wealth to his Atlantic Philanthropies foundation in the 1980s and this year had officially given his fortune away. Committed to a "giving while living" mantra, Feeney was renowned for teaching his children the value of money by making them have vacation jobs and working their way through college. Now the 89-year-old and his wife Helga live in a relatively modest rented apartment in San Francisco.

Read more about the life of the secret billionaire who gave it all away

Gene Simmons, who came from a poor immigrant family before making it big as a rocker in glam rock band KISS, said of his two kids: “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 reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels over seven seasons.

The acclaimed actor, who died of a heroin overdose in 2014, didn’t want his three offspring to be “’trust-fund’ kids”, so left his entire $35 million fortune to his girlfriend Mimi O’Donnell, the mother of his children, saying he trusted her to look after them.

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 that “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 currently thought to be worth $40 million.

The British music mogul had his first child, Eric, in 2014 when he was 54. He told a British newspaper that he doesn’t believe in passing on his $514 million wealth (according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020). 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 is also stepfather to his partner Lauren Silverman's son Adam (pictured far left).

Gordon Ramsay’s no-nonsense attitude applies both in the kitchen and at home. The multimillionaire chef – worth $70 million according to Forbes – revealed his kids sit in coach 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 [an apartment].” 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 had her own children's cooking show Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, which launched on UK children's TV channel CBBC in 2015 when she was only 14 years old.

When the Godfather of Soul died in 2006, he left the bulk of his $100 million fortune to the I Feel Good Trust, an education charity for underprivileged children in South Carolina and Georgia. In 2007, Brown’s six acknowledged children filed a lawsuit against the representatives of Brown’s estate contesting his will; in 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened. A settlement is still yet to be reached.

In 2014, musician and actor Sting, who is reportedly worth $300 million, told a British news website that he didn’t want to leave his six grown-up children trust funds that would be “albatrosses round their necks”. Instead, he plans to spend his hard-earned cash, but respects his kids’ work ethic as they rarely come to him for help.

Although he has an estimated $400 million 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 acquire a work ethic. But he will ensure 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.

Sir Elton claims to owe his children – Elijah and Zachary – a lot when it comes to calming down his extravagant spending habits, but that doesn’t mean his estimated $474 million fortune (according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020) 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.”

Media magnate Ted Turner has signed the Giving Pledge, an initiative set up by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010, where the wealthy commit to giving away the majority of their wealth while they are living. 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 his children are involved in the charitable Turner Foundation, which was set up in 1990. He also launched the United Nations Foundation. Turner is currently worth $2.2 billion.

The producer-director and father of four committed to giving up most of his wealth in his Giving Pledge letter. He plans to use the $4.5 billion he 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 $6 billion.

Find out more about Bill Gates's Giving Pledge and who has signed it

A founder of US DIY superstores Home Depot, the businessman and philanthropist has made it clear that it’s for his children’s own good if they don’t inherit his wealth. Instead, the majority of his $7.7 billion will go to education and his foundation, The Marcus Institute, which helps young people with developmental disabilities.

Laurene Powell Jobs inherited billions when her husband Steve Jobs, one of the co-founders of Apple, died in 2011. Now worth $20.1 billion, Powell Jobs (pictured with Apple's Tim Cook) has invested some of her fortune, buying stakes in several media outlets, and in the organization that owns the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals in 2017. She has also set up a non-profit to help low-income students enter higher education, as well as a charitable foundation focused on social change called the Emerson Collective. However, her three children with the late Jobs are not set to receive her fortune as the 57-year-old has declared that the family's billionaire status "ends with me".

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. His three children will only see a small proportion of his money as he too has signed up to The Giving Pledge. Omidyar is currently worth $17.6 billion.

The former mayor of New York made his $54.9 billion 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 is unlikely that Bloomberg's daughters, Georgina and Emma, disagree since they both work for philanthropic causes.

 

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. Buffett is currently worth $85.2 billion. 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, founder of social networking site Facebook, and his wife Priscilla Chan know the value of the $101.2 billion 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 even pledged to donate 99% of their Facebook shares – about $45 billion at the time of pledging – to the Zuckerberg Foundation. 

Read about Facebook's 15-year rise to the top here

The couple founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 1994, then in 2010 created The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett. The Microsoft magnate doesn’t think it would be “good either for my kids or society” to leave too much to his three children – instead they’ll receive a rumored $10 million each out of the $118.7 billion fortune. 

Although celebrity chef Nigella Lawson had a privileged upbringing herself, she’s gone on record saying she doesn’t want her two children Cosima and Bruno to have financial security as it “ruins people not having to earn money”. The food writer and TV host has since explained that though she wants them to support themselves, she won’t be leaving her kids high and dry.

The English composer has made $1 billion from his artistic talent but would rather his 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 to Sarah Hugill, and Alastair, William and Isabella from his third marriage to Madeleine Gurdon, won't receive a massive inheritance from the music maestro.

In May 2015, Australia’s richest person (pictured center) – with a current net worth of $16.3 billion – lost a long-running legal battle with her children over control of a billion-dollar family trust set up by her mining magnate father. In the past Gina Rinehart branded her three eldest children “slackers” who are “manifestly unable” to handle their inheritance. 

Now read about the billionaires with no kids to leave their fortune to