Meet the billionaire who drives the same car after 25 years and won’t leave his fortune to his kids: “They won’t starve”

American billionaire Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, has spent decades at the top of the financial world. With an estimated net worth of nearly $10 billion, Fisher could easily indulge in the trappings of extreme wealth. Instead, he chooses a simple life, and he expects his children to do the same.

One of the most striking examples of that simplicity is his car: a Volvo he has been driving for 25 years. Fisher has no interest in luxury for its own sake. He prefers modesty over materialism and takes a practical approach to money and success.

“I’m grateful for what I have,” Fisher told the Telegraph. “But I don’t need more than what’s necessary to live well with my family.”

“They won’t starve”

Despite his billions, Fisher has made it clear that his children won’t inherit his fortune. He believes their independence and emotional development matter more than money.

His decision, he says, comes from experience. “I want them to live well from their own work, to support themselves and their families,” he said. “I won’t let them starve, but I also won’t let my money ruin their lives with divorces, career failures, or drugs.”

For Fisher, work is more than a means to an end. He views it as a form of therapy, a source of purpose, and the best reason to get out of bed each morning. That sense of purpose, he says, is the real inheritance he wants to leave behind.

Building a legacy through giving

Fisher’s mindset comes from his own upbringing. His father, a pragmatic man, paid for his older children’s college education but expected them to chart their own course afterward. Ken Fisher did exactly that, founding Fisher Investments and building one of the world’s leading wealth management firms, which now oversees the equivalent of more than $40 billion.

Instead of passing his fortune to his children, Fisher and his wife plan to donate it all through a charitable foundation within 20 years of their deaths.

He has no interest in joining The Giving Pledge, the philanthropic campaign started by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, but wants his giving to follow his own rules. “We’ll make sure our money reaches the people who truly need it,” Fisher said.

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