Battle over Jimmy Buffett's $275 million estate highlights risks of family trusts

CNBC ^ | Jun 13, 2025 | Robert Frank

[montag813]

Mozenter said that during his lifetime, Jimmy "repeatedly expressed his concerns regarding Jane's ability to manage and control his assets" and was "very careful to create the trust in a manner that precluded Jane from having actual control over the trust." He added, "This fact has made Jane very angry."

Totally reasonable. This bird had nothing to do with the creation and growth of these huge assets, and should have no right to ultimately control them, if that was his wish. Of course she's mad. Who cares?

[af_vet_1981]

The 1.7 million in fees is a small percentage of the principal, 275 million, which seems reasonable given the amount of legal work implied. It also seems to me that she, or someone close to her, wants total control and use of the money which apparently is not how her husband set up the trust. Imagine how many leftist causes she could fund.

From Wiki:

Buffett was a supporter of the Democratic Party. He sang in Florida for the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and again for Bill Clinton in the White House in August 2000.[167] Buffett hosted fundraisers for Democratic politicians, including one for Obama in 2008, several for Hillary Clinton in 2016.[168] In 2018, Buffett hosted a concert to support Gwen Graham, daughter of Bob Graham, in the Democratic primary of the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election.[132] In November 2018, he hosted a rally for Florida Democratic candidates Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson in West Palm Beach, Florida, changing the lyrics of some of his songs to disparage the policies of Rick Scott and Donald Trump. The rally faced some backlash from conservative fans.[169][170]

Buffett was raised Catholic, although he did not practice the religion later in life.[30]

[Palio di Siena]

Pretty harsh.
Jimmy toured every year for 50 consecutive years.
A little more than a one hit wonder.

[dfwgator]

Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame.

[bk1000]

How will she get by without access to the entire $275M? /s
Apparently Buffet realized she was a spendthrift and tried to protect his estate.

[PGR88]

Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame.

But he knows, its his own damn fault.

[Bernard]

1.7 million per year to manage a 275 million estate? Sounds like a reasonable number. Perhaps the folks on this thread who have estates in that range can compare that fee to what they pay.

[plain talk]

This co-trustee Richard Mozenter is an accountant who had been Buffett’s business manager for 30 years. Obviously Jimmy trusted him for decades.

But now it’s Jane estate to manage and she will likely prevail in this suit and should be able to select whomever she wants to manage it.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

$275 million

That is a lot of cheeseburgers.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dmDBBu3CTOA

[texas booster]

Well, they were married since 1977, so there is that.

Wonder if the “pool boy” moves into the main house now?

[Kid Shelleen]

>> put a blocker to stop her for blowing it all <<

I agree with your assesment but it seems to me that with such a big estate he could have willed a part of it directly to his children.

[ladyjane]

It appears Jimmy wanted his wife to basically get everything but put a blocker to stop her for blowing it all.

There are many reasons to put assets in a trust or trusts, taxation being one of them. Unless you've read the trust document it's silly to jump to a conclusion like that.

[IYAS9YAS]

You would think that the leftist would have left his estate to the government.

[Subcutaneous Fishstick Blues]

Someone needs to open a buffet in Key West and call it “Jimmy’s Buffet”. How fast would the Buffett estate sue them?

Pretty sure they'd see one Come Monday

[Hatteras]

“Parrot Heads” derived from Dead Heads. Timothy B. Schmidt came up with it after comparing the fans to Dead Heads

[Fireone]

I live in Florida...I know more than a few, lol!

[Hyman Roth]

Yeah. And his music sucked. Nobody went to his concerts for his musical talent. They went so they could dress up their vans in shark fins and stuff.

[sheana]

We used to start our vacation every year with a Buffett concert. Got us in vacation mode because they were so much fun. Met Jimmy a few times. Hubby built him a mini naval cannon that actually worked. He talked about he and Cameron firing it off and the neighbors calling the cops. lol After he received it he moved us to the VIP section at an Irvine concert. Good times!

[Wilderness Conservative]

Big lib vs big lib. Who cares? Jimmy was one of the biggest limo libs ever.

[Mastador1]

If he wanted the kids to have something he should have funded separate trusts in their names.