Sting: Why My Children Won’t Inherit My Fortune

In a revealing and emotional interview, iconic singer Sting opened up about the fractured relationship he endured with his father and revealed that he doesn’t expect his children will inherit the roughly $300 million fortune he accrued.

Claiming that passing on his fortune could do more harm than good to his children, who are aged between 18 and 37, Sting revealed that he doesn’t want “to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round their necks.” Telling The Mail On Sunday’s Event magazine that he would “obviously” help his children if they were in trouble, Sting claimed he has “never really had to do that,” a fact he attributes to his children’s work ethic:

“They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate….They have this work ethic that makes them want to succeed on their own merit. People make assumptions, that they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but they have not been given a lot.”

Sting also revealed that there may be very little of his fortune to pass on. Saying, “There won’t be much money left because we are spending it,” the singer revealed that he has over 100 people on his payroll, between managers, staff, crew and lawyers.

During the course of the interview, Sting also spoke at length about the volatile relationship he had with his father, who never really understood his son’s ambition. Saying that he needed to escape his working class town and the “toxic environment” of his parent’s marriage, Sting related the story of his father’s passing in the interview. It was with a “jolt of an electrical shock” that Sting realized his father and he shared the same hands, despite their differences. “We have the same hands, Dad, look!” Sting said, describing himself as “a child again, desperately trying to get his attention.” Sting’s father responded with a line that still sticks in his memory, the first compliment the singer can ever recall hearing from his father: “Aye, son, but you used yours better than I used mine.”

The son of a working class family, Sting is hardly the first celebrity to embrace the idea that passing on their fortune could be damaging to their children. Bill Gates and Simon Cowell are amongst a number of wealthy individuals who ascribe to the same opinion, according to The Telegraph. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Anderson Cooper revealed that he would inherit none of his mother’s considerable fortune. The CNN host and son of Gloria Vanderbilt told Howard Stern that he doesn’t believe in inheriting money, calling it an “initiative sucker” that could be a curse.

“My generation all assumed we would have a better standard of living. The one that we spawned cannot assume that,” Sting says, acknowledging the unique challenges that his offspring face, even without inheriting his fortune. “With my children there is great wealth, success – a great shadow over them – so it’s no picnic at all being my child. I discuss that with them; it’s tough for them.”

[Images via Rolling Stone and Billboard]