Howard Buffett: 27 trips to war zones – Buffett's son is "the biggest friend of Ukraine"

On February 24, 2022, Howard Buffett had an epiphany. The son of US star investor Warren Buffett was so shaken by Russia's invasion of Ukraine that he made a spontaneous decision. "We're going in with everything we can," he told his foundation's employees at the time, Buffett recently said at a conference of the US think tank German Marshall Fund in Gdansk, Poland.

At first, his people had hesitated, but now Ukraine was more important to them than any other project. Last year, the Howard Buffett Foundation used half of its aid for the war-torn country. By the end of 2026, it will have spent a total of $1.5 billion.

The fact that Howard Buffett was able to provide so much money so quickly is due to his famous name. He is the son of one of the most successful investors in the world: Warren Buffett. But instead of emulating his father and increasing the wealth of his holding company, he sees his calling in other ways. Howard Buffett is the middle of three children of Warren Buffett.

From an early age, it was clear to him that he did not want to focus on his father's company. He kept himself out of the operational business of the investment firm Berkshire Holding.

"Howard was never interested in actively running Berkshire," says Lawrence Cunningham, a Buffett expert and professor of good corporate governance at the University of Delaware. "But he always had a strong moral compass." He sees himself more as a farmer, photographer, and patron.

General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of the US Army in Afghanistan, once said, "In life, you get tested one or two times," Buffett himself says. For him, Ukraine was this test. "I saw Ukraine as something monumental that I had never experienced. For me, it was like World War III." If he had not gotten involved, he would have regretted it for the rest of his life, says the 71-year-old.

The money from his foundation therefore flowed into Ukraine, among other things, into food, mine clearance, prosthetics, and infrastructure. Over the past four and a half years, Buffett has developed into a true Ukraine expert. According to his own statements, he has traveled to the war zone 27 times.

The governor of the front region of Kherson, Oleksandr Prokudin, calls Buffett "the greatest friend of Ukraine". The two have already sought shelter together in cellars from Russian drones and attended school performances, which, like most of life in the seaport city of Kherson, now take place underground.

The hobby photographer Buffett also took thousands of pictures of life in war - and published the most impressive ones in the photo book "Courage of a Nation". He also financed the documentary film "Porcelain War" about Ukrainian artists in Kharkiv, which was nominated for an Oscar in 2025.

The generous donor knows that his charitable work is only made possible by the wealth that his father has generated and that he will inherit together with his siblings Susie (73) and Peter (68). The news agency Bloomberg estimates it at around $150 billion.

"You can build up resources while you gain experience and develop long-term goals. But since you will receive annual donations, there is no reason to build up large reserves," Warren Buffett had written in his promises to his children in 2006. And all three apparently know how to deal with this inheritance sensibly.

Susie and Peter also have foundations with which they engage in charitable causes. According to Forbes, they are among the largest philanthropists in the world. The 95-year-old Warren Buffett has announced that he will donate 99 percent of his wealth to charitable causes and has spent a lot of time and energy in the past year restructuring his legacy.

Howard and Susie are supposed to lead a new foundation after Buffett's death to distribute the money for charitable purposes. Peter was also supposed to be involved, but he declined. Until then, Howard Buffett wants to improve the world with his current foundation - in Ukraine and elsewhere.

For years, he has traveled to the poorest regions of the world and fought hunger with sustainable agriculture. In the Congo, he invested in hydroelectric power plants to supply electricity to remote regions. In Ghana, his foundation worked with agricultural machinery manufacturers to train farmers in sustainable agriculture.

"Mostly, I fight against weather conditions, insects, and weeds," Buffett wrote in his book "40 Chances - Finding Hope in a Hungry World". But one has to consider hunger in its entire complexity.

At the beginning of the year, Buffett emphasized in an interview with the US stock market broadcaster CNBC how important a functioning legal state is to combat poverty. "There are many things that can be financed - and in the end, it leads to nothing," he said.

"If you don't address the actual issue of the rule of law, you simply can't succeed." Buffett doesn't believe in donating large sums to other organizations or governments.

"If you start writing checks for $200 or $300 million, only institutions or governments can absorb them," he said. "I don't really trust them to make good decisions. They often have enormous administrative costs."

That's why Buffett also distributes the money in Ukraine directly to projects. He sets up agricultural machinery for farmers, finances mine clearance, or documents war crimes. The farmers are a particular concern for him because he himself maintains several farms.

In the future, Howard Buffett is supposed to lead the administrative board.