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OMAHA, Neb. - Susan T. Buffett, the wife of billionaire investor Warren Buffett and a director in his company, died Thursday of a stroke while visiting friends in Cody, Wyo. She was 72.
Buffett, the world's second richest man and chairman of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., was with his wife when she died, the company said.
The family's wealth is valued at more than $44 billion. Held largely in Berkshire stock, it appears destined upon Buffett's death to go directly to a charitable foundation that has generated controversy over its contributions to Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups.
If it does end up with most of the family's Berkshire stock, the Buffett Foundation would be the largest in the country, outpacing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's $27 billion, said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy in Washington, D.C.
Susan Buffett held about $3 billion in Berkshire stock, or about 2 percent of the company. The company's class A shares now trades for more than $87,000 a share.
Buffett, 73, had earlier said his stock in Berkshire, worth about $41 billion, would go to his wife upon his death and then to the Buffett Foundation, which two years ago gave millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood organizations around the country.
The foundation, which has been criticized by anti-abortion groups for helping abortion rights and other population-control groups, also has given money to hospitals, universities and teachers.
Susan Buffett was the foundation's president, while Buffett is its vice president and treasurer.
Buffett married his wife in 1952. They had lived separately for many years. She spent much of her time in San Francisco, but they often traveled and spent time together.
Her death could be hard on Buffett, said George Morgan, vice president of Smith Hayes Financial Services in Omaha and a longtime Berkshire stockholder. ''I think the best you could describe it is they were friends,'' Morgan said. ''I'm sure this will have a very strong emotional pull on Warren.''