Wife of Warren Buffett Dies After a Stroke

Cody, WY, July 30--Susan T. Buffett, 72 years old, wife of Warren E. Buffett and a director of his investment empire, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., died from a stroke yesterday in Cody, Wyo., where she and Mr. Buffett were visiting friends. Her death could begin the process of unlocking their vast fortune for an array of charitable causes. Mr. Buffett has told shareholders that, upon their deaths, the Buffetts would move their approximately one-third stake in the company into the Buffett Foundation, one of the family's philanthropic endowments. Mrs. Buffett's stake in Berkshire was just above 2%, according to the company's March proxy, while Mr. Buffett's was more than 30%. The foundation currently controls about $25 million in assets, a small figure considering that the 100th-largest grant-making foundation in the U.S. controls about $445 million. But if Mrs. Buffett's $3 billion in stock were transferred, the move would catapult the Buffett Foundation to No. 12 among such foundations in the country, right before the Rockefeller Foundation, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. "The fact that the $3 billion could go to the foundation would easily make it one of the top-20 biggest," said Stacey Palmer, the Chronicle's editor. Mrs. Buffett was the Buffett Foundation's president. The group has focused on causes like civil rights and population control. Mrs. Buffett ranked 153rd on Forbes magazine's World's Richest People list in 2004, while her husband ranked second with a net worth of $42.9 billion. In 1991, Mrs. Buffett was elected to the board of Berkshire at Mr. Buffett's urging, and she attended its annual meeting every year. The Buffetts have three children: Susie, 51, of Omaha; Howard, 49, of Decatur, Ill., who also is on Berkshire's board; and Peter, 46, a musician in Milwaukee.

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