Elton John won’t leave his entire fortune to his two sons in his will, as he wants them to earn their wealth.
Elton has an estimated £200 million ($279 million) fortune after more than 50 years in the music business, but despite his incredible wealth, he will not be passing it all on to Zachary, five and Elijah, three.
“Of course I want to leave my boys in a very sound financial state but it’s terrible to give kids a silver spoon, it ruins their life,” he said, according to British newspaper The Mirror. “Listen, the boys live the most incredible lives, they’re not normal kids, and I’m not pretending they are. But you have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work.”
The 68-year-old and husband David Furnish welcomed both boys via surrogate, and the star has regularly spoken about how much fatherhood has changed him.
When it comes to money, Elton has given up many of his most extravagant expenses, and the star will be forever grateful to his sons for reminding him of life’s simplest pleasures.
“Having children changed everything about my life,” he continued. “I’ve learned that the simplest things in life – like having a minute with them – are worth more than any painting, any photograph, any house or any hit record. Before we had the children we just had our lives, and would spend money because we didn’t have anything else to focus on. We have really toned things down because we have enough stuff. There is nothing else we need.”
Elton and David are currently drawing up their wills, and while they haven’t finalised a definite plan for the boys, they aim to make sure they will be comfortable, and donate a large amount to charity, too.
“We’re still working out the details and it’s about finding the balance,” he said. “I came from a very working class family and was born in a council estate house. I earned everything I did from hard work and that’s the way they’ve got to do it as well.”
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