Stars who disinherited their children
They are among the richest people in the world, and yet they have chosen to leave less or no money to their children. Some celebrities 'disinherited' their children to give them the best possible life lessons. Others did it because they were tired of their offspring's bad behavior.
As he presented his new directorial project, 'Horizon - An American Saga' in 2024, Kevin Costner made a striking revelation. He mortgaged his four houses to make the 'Horizon' Western movies. He needed 100 million to make the four lengthy films and had to take 20 million out of his own pocket. If the movies flop, that money won't go to the children.
"I don't need four houses," the actor/director said during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival. "I would like to leave them to my children but they will have to live their own lives." By the way, his 15-year-old son Hayes (photo) plays a part in the first film, so he hasn't had to start that 'own life' just yet.
Bruce Willis has an estate of $250 million of which his daughters, Rumer, Tallulah, and Scout, will only see $1 million apiece. The other $247 million will go to his current wife, Emma Heming, and his young daughters, Mabel and Evelyn.
The reason is that the actor considers that Demi Moore has enough wealth (200 million) to help their three daughters together.
The biggest center in the history of the NBA has a fortune of about 400 million dollars, but it will not automatically go to any of his six children. As he told The New York Post: "My kids are older now. They kinda upset with me. Not really upset, but they don’t understand." The reason? "I tell them all the time. We ain’t rich. I’m rich."
"You gotta have a bachelor’s or master’s," Shaq told his kids. "And then, if you want me to invest in one of your companies, you’re going to have to present it, boom boom boom, bring it to me... I’ll let you know, I’m not giving you nothing."
The musician and his partner will leave £53 million to charity, because they want to encourage respect for work and money in their children.
Bill Gates has decided to donate much of his fortune to charity in order to give a valuable life lesson to his children Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe. This way they can understand the true value of money.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis: "We're not going to leave them any money. When the time comes, we will donate everything we have to charity."
Jackie Chan decided to disinherit his son after he had served a six-month prison sentence for drug use. Chan will donate all his money to charity.
The late grandfather of Paris Hilton, Barron Hilton, withheld $100 million from Paris's inheritance to donate it to charity.
The $300 million earned by musician Gene Simmons will be transferred almost entirely to non-profit organizations after he dies. He wants to help his children learn to "fly" on their own and to follow their own path.
When Aaron Spelling died in 2006 of Alzheimer's, his daughter Tori Spelling found out that she had been disinherited. Of the $500 million the father left, only $800,000 went to the actress's account.
Sting won't leave his children any money. There is one simple reason for that: he is going to spend everything on the more than 100 persons on his payroll, to whom he has his obligations.
The Ramsays decided to disinherit their children to protect them from the detrimental influence of big fortunes. The kids will only receive 25% of the value of a house.
The creator of eBay supported the 'Giving Pledge,' a 'Donation Oath' by a group of billionaires. He plans to transfer all his funds to a charitable foundation.
George Lucas has promised to transfer all his assets to non-profits for the benefit of society.
Simon Cowell doesn't believe in the custom of inheriting money from one generation to the next. "Your legacy must be to give people many opportunities. If you give them your time and teach them, it will be the greatest inheritance”.
Philip Seymour Hoffman left all his money to Mimi O'Donnell, his ex-partner and mother of his three children, so that the kids would not be spoiled.
Michael Bloomberg signed the 'Giving Pledge' and intends to transfer his entire fortune to charity. That's $34 billion bequeathed to non-profit organizations in the fields of health, education, science, and others.
Actress Joan Crawford died in 1977 and deleted two of her four adopted children from her will. One of them, Christina, then decided to write a scandalous biography about her mother: 'Mommie Dearest.'
Buffett will only leave 1% of his fortune to his children so that they won't lose the inspiration to do something in life for themselves.
The Chinese millionaire Ye Pengnian was another accomplished man who advocated the culture of effort. He bequeathed almost all his money to his foundation.
With over $2 billion in assets, the media mogul lives on the edge of poverty, because almost all of his money belongs to foundations.
Weeks before his death, Oscar de la Renta modified his will so that his son, Moses de la Renta, would only get a tiny part of his estimated $26 million.
None of Andrew Lloyd Webber's five heirs will receive his hefty fortune. His capital amounts to $1.2 billion.
Jerry Lewis disinherited the grown-up children he had with his first wife, to whom he had been married for 36 years.
Apparently, the relationship between father Julio and son Enrique was not going so well after Enrique jumped to fame. He had not consulted his singing father, and this bothered the old Iglesias very much.
At the time of his death in 2004, Mickey Rooney's assets were barely $18,000. He decided to disinherit his eight children because they were all richer than he was.
Follow Showbizz Daily to stay informed and enjoy more content!