The Buffett sibling who worked hard to give it all away

Doris Buffett and her younger brother Warren, the founder of Berkshire Hathaway, had perfectly matching passions. “Warren loves to make money,” Doris explained, “and I love to give it away.” When her brother announced in 2006 that he intended to donate nearly his entire $77 billion fortune before he died, Doris personally sifted through the ensuing flood of requests for help, and wrote checks to people who’d asked for things as small as money to pay for dentures, wheelchairs, and automobile repairs. She also did big things, donating tens of millions of dollars to organizations that educate prisoners, aid victims of domestic violence, and improve the lives of the mentally ill. In all, Doris gave away $200 million of her own wealth and even more of her brother’s. “The plan,” said Doris, “is for my last check to bounce.”

She was born in Omaha to a father who was a stockbroker and a Republican congressman. Her homemaker mother, who likely “suffered undiagnosed bipolar disorder,” subjected young Doris to a daily torrent of emotional abuse, said the Culpeper, Va., Star-Exponent. At a young age, Doris said, she decided that “if there was no fairy godmother for me, maybe I could be one for others.”

“Doris eschewed giving money to what she jokingly called ‘the SOBs’—the symphony, opera, and ballet,” said the Omaha WorldHerald. Instead she focused on ordinary people in need. Her checks in response to letters for help averaged about $5,000 and often came with some tough love—advising recipients how they could make extra money babysitting, for example. In 2010, she was asked what she wanted her epitaph to say. “She made a difference,” Doris replied. “Unless you do, why were you here?”