12 Celebrities Who Don’t Plan on Leaving Their Millions to Their Kids

Sometimes those who were born to a wealthy and famous family may have a more difficult life than those who have ordinary parents. How should a person understand whether it’s them who achieved success, or if the fame of their family played a key role? To avoid this dilemma, Nicolas Cage even changed his real name, Coppola, to achieve success on his own.

Sometimes famous parents disinherit their children to make them achieve success themselves. At Bright Side, we found 12 examples of this and would like to tell you about them. And in the bonus section, we’ll tell you the story of an heiress who was left without her father’s inheritance, but her relatives did the right thing and made it up to her.

Marlon Brando

The actor had 11 children, between whom he could divide his inheritance. However, even during his lifetime, he excluded 2 people from his will: his adopted daughter, Petra, whom he raised from the age of 14, and the son of his late daughter, Cheyenne.

The official reason for this was never made public. But there is an opinion that the decision regarding Petra was made due to the fact that the girl’s mother sued Brando for money. The reason why the Oscar-winning actor punished his grandson is unknown.

Daniel Craig

The actor who portrayed agent 007 is a wealthy person. According to some estimates, he’s worth almost $160 million, most of which Craig got playing James Bond. However, his 2 daughters are unlikely to get anything from this amount.

Being from a poor family (Craig’s father was a sailor, and his mother was an art teacher), he believes that a person needs to earn their own living. The actor calls the very concept of “inheritance” quite distasteful. According to his philosophy, a person should spend all their money during their lifetime.

Sean Connery

Since 2020, when Sean Connery passed away, the world has been waiting for the actor’s will to be announced to know whether his son got anything. Even during his lifetime, Connery repeatedly stated that he would deprive his son of his inheritance in order to teach him a lesson: “He doesn’t know what it’s like to have a hard time, but it’s not too late for him to learn life.”

In 2007, the actor made it public that he wanted his 45-year-old son “to make a living on his own and not off his father’s hook.”

Kirk Douglas

Even during his lifetime, the actor devoted most of his time to helping those in need. He and his wife founded a foundation whose goal was “helping those who cannot help themselves.” It’s no surprise that he made sure in his will that almost all of his money be given to charity.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

The famous composer and writer of The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and many other popular musicals, has earned more than $1 billion during his career. However, his 5 children will never see this enormous amount, as Webber believes that everyone should make their own living.

“It is about having a work ethic — I don’t believe in inherited money at all. I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work,” the composer says.

50 Cent

The disputes between rapper 50 Cent and his son, Marquise, have been the subject of media discussion for a long time. The fact is that the man and the teenager regularly sort out their difficult relationship by posting their texts online. As a result, the rapper threatened publicly that his son would be excluded from his will.

Simon Cowell

The music mogul, who has produced shows such as The X Factor, American Idol, and America’s Got Talent, also doesn’t plan on leaving an inheritance to his children. According to him, the best thing that a person can give to their children is their time and the opportunity to teach them what one knows.

The producer doesn’t believe in the idea of giving his fortune to his children. Cowell says he’d rather donate the money to charities that help kids and dogs.

Anderson Cooper

The famous American TV journalist, Anderson Cooper, is not going to leave his son an inheritance. He recently spoke about this on the radio. He adheres to the position of his parents, who only paid for his college. And then, according to the journalist, a person should achieve everything themselves.

Laurene Powell Jobs

The widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, Laurene, continues her husband’s legacy. The woman doesn’t plan to leave an inheritance to her children just as her late husband wanted. Instead, her goal is to “effectively deploy resources.”

The businesswoman invests millions in companies that can change the world. For example, in 2015, she launched a program that helps low-income students pay for college.

Joan Crawford

The star of old Hollywood, Joan Crawford, was the mother of 4 adopted children. When the actress died, it turned out that her older children were left without a penny. The entire Crawford fortune went to the younger twins. This led to litigation, and as a result of which, the older adopted children got justice.

David Cassidy

A great example of how a parent can really love one child more than the other can be seen with actor David Cassidy. In one of his interviews, he said that he doesn’t consider himself a father to his daughter, Katie Cassidy (who you’ve likely seen in the Gossip Girl series), because he didn’t raise her.

But Cassidy called his son, who grew up with him, one of the best people he had ever known. When the actor passed away, it turned out that he didn’t leave a cent to his daughter, and all the property was passed to his son.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

The will of the Oscar-winning actor listed only one heir to his entire fortune (which is about $35 million), Hoffman’s girlfriend, costume designer Marianne O’Donnell. Philip had 3 children with her. The actor didn’t plan to leave his money to their children. According to his accountant, he didn’t want his heirs to feel like “trust fund” kids.

Bonus: Heath Ledger

The little daughter of Heath Ledger was left without an inheritance because the actor made a will a couple of years before her birth. In 2008, the man died, and all his property went to his 3 sisters and parents. However, the Ledger family did the right thing and gave all of Heath’s money to his then 2-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Would you leave your money to your children, or would you leave them without a penny? Tell us in the comments below.