Gates Pledges Lifetime of Service to Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway has had its fair share of bad luck in the past few months (though haven’t we all?), but a recent promise from Warren Buffett’s longtime friend Bill Gates that he will join Berkshire’s board and stay on for the rest of his life seems a testament to the goodwill those in the know have for the company. Gates and Don Keough, formerly of Coca-Cola, have vowed to maintain the ideals of the corporation after the aging Buffett (right), No. 5 on our list, retires.

This news draws attention once again to the burning question: what will happen when the 78-year-old Oracle of Omaha steps down? The legend himself spoke to his mortality in an interview last month with Bloomberg News, saying, “It’s the most important issue there is. There’s nothing more important. Nobody knows on any given day where I’ll be the next day.” Look for the topic to be addressed this Saturday at “Capitalists’ Woodstock,” otherwise known as Berkshire’s annual meeting.

No matter who ends up replacing him, Buffett is likely to take solace in the fact that his bridge buddy will be there to carry on his vision. And Gates does owe him a debt of gratitude—who can forget Buffett’s extraordinary largesse in 2006 when he pledged 85 percent of his massive fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?