As the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates hit the headlines, many started to speculate how the billionaire couple would divide up their extensive assets. But one thing’s for sure, as the couple co-founded The Giving Pledge – where wealthy philanthropists commit to giving away the majority of their wealth during their lifetimes or in their wills – their fortunes won’t be handed down to their children. And they’re not the only super-rich people choosing to spend their money elsewhere. Click or scroll through the famous names whose kids won't be sharing their wealth – and why.

All net worth values based on Forbes data.

Aaron’s widow Candy holds the purse strings when it comes to her late TV producer husband’s $600 million fortune. Their daughter, actor Tori Spelling, received a mere $800,000 from Aaron’s estate when he died in 2006 and she 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. Committed to a "giving while living" mantra, Feeney’s renowned for teaching his children the value of money by making them have holiday jobs and work their way through university. The reluctant billionaire declared that he’d officially reached his goal of going “broke” in September 2020, and now the 90-year-old and his wife Helga live in a relatively modest rented apartment in San Francisco.

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.

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, from her first marriage, to have financial security as it “ruins people not having to earn money”. The food writer has since explained that, though she wants them to support themselves, she won’t be leaving her kids high and dry.

The acclaimed actor, who died of a heroin overdose in 2014, didn’t want his three offspring to be “’trust-fund’ kids”, and 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 was estimated to be worth $40 million last year by Forbes.

Gordon Ramsay’s no-nonsense attitude applies both in the kitchen and at home. The multimillionaire chef – worth $70 million last year according to Forbes – revealed 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 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. In June last year the court ruled that Brown’s former partner Tomi Rae Hynie had failed to annul a previous marriage, leaving her with no claim to the multimillion-dollar estate, meaning that the funds could finally go to the cause that Brown had originally left his fortune to.

In 2014, musician and actor Sting, who was reportedly worth $300 million at the time, told a British newspaper 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.

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 £225 million ($338m) 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 is also stepfather to his partner Lauren Silverman's son Adam (pictured far left).

Although he reportedly 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 have to 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 for making him calm down his extravagant spending habits, but that doesn’t mean his estimated £360 million ($463m) 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.”

The founder and CEO of underwear company Spanx, Sara Blakely was the first woman to sign The Giving Pledge in 2013, and she committed to use the money to “invest in women”. She told her son that she would be donating the majority of her wealth, last estimated at $610 million by Forbes in 2020, 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 is better saved for when he’s hit kindergarten… 

The English composer has made his £750 million ($965m) 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.

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 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 $2.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Richard Branson was allegedly prompted to sign up to the Giving Pledge in 2013 after a number of house fires caused him to realize 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 $4.2 billion.

Founder and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings has enjoyed a boost to his net worth in the last year thanks to the streaming platform’s incredible success during the COVID-19 crisis. He 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 $5 billion. Either way, the majority of the Netflix fortune won’t be going to his two children, but instead will likely fund the education of other people’s children, as Hastings is a big advocate of reforming the American education system through charter schools, and spent time on the California State Board of Education. 

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 $4.05 billion 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 $7.1 billion, while his charitable foundation has more than $1 billion in assets.

Co-founder of US DIY superstores 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 $9.3 billion wealth will go to education and his foundation, The Marcus Institute, which helps young people with developmental disabilities.

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. In his pledge letter Omidyar 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 $22.4 billion.

Laurene Powell Jobs inherited billions when her husband Steve Jobs, one of the co-founders of Apple, died in 2011. Now worth $19.7 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 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 are not set to receive her fortune as the 57-year-old has declared that the family's billionaire status "ends with me".

MacKenzie Scott has four children with ex-husband Jeff Bezos, who is the richest person in the world. The couple’s high-profile divorce settlement was the most expensive ever made public at $35 billion, and it made Scott the third-richest woman in the world. The Bezos children won’t necessarily be inheriting wealth from both parents however, as Scott quickly signed The Giving Pledge when she remarried in March after having donated almost $6 billion 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 $58.4 billion. 

The former mayor of New York made his $59 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 two daughter, Georgina and Emma, disagree since they both work for philanthropic causes.

The founder and former CEO of Google has said that instead of passing his enormous $101.8 billion 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”. He listed Tesla founder Elon Musk’s ambition to go to Mars as a cause he would like to support and is a keen investor in various space exploration companies as well as Kitty Hawk and Opener, which are start-ups looking to create flying cars.

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 $109.3 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 $116 billion-dollar 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 at the time of pledging – to the Zuckerberg Foundation. 

Elon Musk may be the second richest person on the planet, but that doesn’t mean that his six sons, the youngest of whom partner Grimes gave birth to last May, will inherit much of his $164.2 billion wealth. The Tesla founder and CEO signed The Giving Pledge in 2012, and has already donated more than $12.9 billion to causes including renewable energy, science and engineering education. The tech mogul also only receives a $1 salary each year, although that doesn’t account for the billions he makes from his shares in Tesla and other companies.

 

Melinda and Bill Gates, pictured with eldest daughter Jennifer, formed their eponymous 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 Gates reportedly said in 2017 they’ll receive $10 million each out of the $130.5 billion fortune. This comes as speculation is rife as to how Bill and Melinda will divide their billions between the two of them following their divorce announcement.

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