By Neia Balao
6:03pm PST, Jan 18, 2023
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The children of rich and famous celebrities will inevitably inherit the wealth of their parents, right? Well, not always. Join Wonderwall.com as we take a look at the stars who don't plan to pass their fortunes to their kids…
In 2020, singer-actress Marie Osmond revealed on "The Talk" that she won't be leaving her seven children a large sum of money. "Congratulations, kids," the "Donny & Marie" star began. "My husband and I decided that you do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gifts you can give your children, and that's the ability to work." She continued, "You see it a lot in rich families, where the kids don't know what to do so they get in trouble, so I just let them be proud of what they make."
In January 2023, she doubled down on her vow, making it clear she hadn't changed her mind. "Honestly, why would you enable your child to not try to be something? I don't know anybody who becomes anything if they're just handed money," the Nutrisystem spokeswoman told Us Weekly. "To me, the greatest gift you can give your child is a passion to search out who they are inside and to work. I mean, I've done so many things from designing dolls [to making music and more]. I love trying [and] I wanna try everything. I'm a finisher." Marie continued, "That's one of my rules with my kids. If you start it, you finish it, you don't ever have to do it again, but you gotta finish. And, I just think all [an inheritance] does is breed laziness and entitlement. I worked hard and I'm gonna spend it all and have fun with my husband."
Keep reading for more celebrities who aren't leaving their fortunes to their children…
MORE: The Osmond siblings: Where are they now?
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While chatting with host Dax Shepard on the "Armchair Expert" podcast in 2020, Ashton Kutcher revealed that he and wife Mila wouldn't be setting up their two kids, Wyatt and Dimitri, financially. "My kids are living a really privileged life, and they don't even know it," the "That '70s Show" alum explained. "And they'll never know it because this is the only one that they'll know. I'm not setting up a trust for them. We'll end up giving our money away to charity and to various things."
MORE: Stars who come from rich families
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Daniel Craig is bringing in the big bucks — in 2021, it was reported that he was earning a $100 million salary to reprise his role as Detective Benoit Blanc in two "Knives Out" sequels including "The Glass Onion." He also earned a reported $25 million for his final Bond film installment, "No Time to Die." But the British actor — who has two daughters — doesn't support the notion of an inheritance. "My philosophy is to get rid of it or give it away before you go," he told Saga Magazine in 2020. "I don't want to leave great sums to the next generation."
MORE: Celebrities who look alike
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Anderson Cooper, who welcomed kids Wyatt in 2020 and Sebastian in 2022, is another star who refuses to leave his children his fortune. "I don't believe in passing [on] huge amounts of money. I don't know what I'll have. I'm not that interested in money," the CNN star said on the "Morning Meeting" podcast in 2021. "I don't intend to have some sort of pot of gold for my [kids]. … I'll go with what my parents said, which is college will be paid for and then you gotta get on it."
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From "Every Breath You Take" to "Fields of Gold," British singer-songwriter Sting has given the world a lot of great music that's made him a lot of money. However, he has no intention of leaving any of his reported $400M net worth to his six offspring. "I certainly don't want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses 'round their necks," the Police frontman told the DailyMail.com in 2014. "They have to work. All my kids know that, and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate."
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Don't expect Gordon Ramsay to set up his kids financially. The British chef and restaurateur, who shares five children with wife Tana, hasn't shied away from expressing the ways he's willing — and unwilling — to provide for his kids when it comes to money. "It's definitely not going to them, and that's not in a mean way; it's to not spoil them," he told the Telegraph in 2017. "The only thing I've agreed with Tana is they get a 25% deposit on a flat, but not the whole flat."
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Sir Elton John has an estimated net worth of $500M. The "Rocket Man" singer, however, feels that leaving a hefty inheritance to the two sons he shares with husband David Furnish will be detrimental to their lives. "Of course I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state," he told The Sun in 2016. "But it's terrible to give kids a silver spoon. It ruins their life." The "Tiny Dancer" hitmaker continued, "Listen, the boys live the most incredible lives, they're not normal kids, and I'm not pretending they are. But you have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work."
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Music mogul and reality TV competition show judge Simon Cowell has made it clear that his son, Eric, with partner Lauren Silverman won't be benefiting from his wealth down the line. "I'm going to leave my money to somebody. A charity, probably — kids and dogs," the "American Idol," "America's Got Talent" and "The X Factor" judge told the Mirror in 2013. "I don't believe in passing on from one generation to another." He continued, "Your legacy has to be that hopefully you gave enough people an opportunity, so that they could do well, and you gave them your time, taught them what you know."
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In 2021, Laurene Powell Jobs — the widow of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs — was reported to be worth $21.7 billion — and she's been reducing her fortune since then by giving it away. The philanthropist and Emerson Collective founder has a specific plan for her money. "I inherited my wealth from my husband, who didn't care about the accumulation of wealth," she told The New York Times in 2020. "I'm not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my [three] children know that. If I live long enough, it ends with me."
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George Lucas, whose net worth was a reported $5 billion in 2023 — and used to be far higher , before he started giving it away — is a strong supporter of education. The filmmaker, who founded the George Lucas Educational Fund, has donated most of the $4B he earned from the sale of his "Star Wars" franchise to Disney to support educational initiatives in the United States rather than set his four kids up with large trusts. "I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education," he declared as part of The Giving Pledge. "It is key to the survival of the human race. We have to plan for our collective future — and the first step begins with the social, emotional and intellectual tools we provide to our children."
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After divorcing Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in 2019, novelist MacKenzie Scott's net worth rose to an incredible $60B — thanks to the 4% stake in Amazon she received as part of her divorce settlement. In 2020, MacKenzie made headlines when she donated nearly $6 billion to organizations in need. In 2021, she revealed she'd donated a further $2.74B to 286 organizations in "categories and communities that have historically been underfunded and overlooked." Since then, she's given away even more: She's one of the billionaires who's signed the Giving Pledge, vowing to donate at least half of her fortune to charity instead of leaving it to her four kids.
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Renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who has five children, believes there's value in incentivizing your kids to work. "I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work," he told the Mirror in 2012. The man behind myriad musicals including "The Phantom of the Opera" — whose net worth was a reported $1.2B in 2022 — continued, "We could use the royalties to encourage everything from bursaries to young artists and composers. I feel I owe a debt, and that is very largely due to the success not only in Britain but also the rest of the world."
