Elton John
Elton John and his partner David Furnish are planning to give away much of their $260 million fortune to various charities. Their two sons Zachary and Elijah, born through surrogacy, will be left with a notable amount, but the famous singer-songwriter told the newspaper The Daily Mirror that he doesn’t want to make things too easy for his children.
“You have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work.” It means that while Zach and Eli will still have the Elton John name to draw from, they’ll still have to earn their own fortunes.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah is, of course, still with us, but she's still revealed the details of their final wishes. Most of her money – to the tune of three billion dollars – will go to numerous charity organizations and foundations. However, her family is still getting some.
Specifically, she's going to leave almost thirty million dollars to her five beloved dogs. Golden retrievers Luke and Layla, cocker spaniel Sadie, and springer spaniels Sunny and Lauren will all have plenty of dough to last themselves through the end of their long, happy lives, should they live longer than their world-famous master.
Simon Cowell
While Eric Cowell is the son of multi-millionaire media mogul Simon Cowell, but the youngest will have to earn his own fortune. Simon, who is famous for being a recording executive, a caustic judge on American Idol , and some other things, probably.
He's told Esquire magazine that he plans to leave his entire fortune – somewhere around five hundred million dollars – to charity. He's even said that he doesn't believe in passing on from one generation to another. He will simply leave a legacy of making fun of people who think they can sing, and giving lots of money to charity. A good man.
Bill Gates
One of the world's richest men has a personal fortune of eighty-five billion dollars, but that doesn't mean that his children will be able to settle back on their laurels and do nothing with their lives. The Microsoft founder has pledged to leave most of his fortune to the foundation that he set up with his wife Melinda.
He will, however, pay for his children's college tuition. As he once told the television show This Morning, “It's not a favor to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth.” That means his children will have to find their own ways in life, though they still have a step up compared to others.
Jimi Hendrix
This legendary songwriter and guitar player passed away at the young age of twenty-seven, and like most of the other members of the 27 club, he didn't have the chance to write a will for himself. After Hendrix died, an attorney managed his fortune for twenty years, until the musician's dad stepped in and sued for his son's music rights.
Eventually, Hendrix's eighty-million dollar estate went to his father, and then to his adopted sister. The estate is now worth an estimated $175 million, which has got to be something that comes up often during family disputes. Hey, at least he had something to disperse when he passed.