Daniel Craig will not leave his fortune to his children because he believes “inheritance is quite distasteful”.

The actor is worth millions thanks to his starring role in the James Bond franchise. He has a three-year-old daughter with his wife, Rachel Weisz, and an adult daughter, Ella, from his first marriage to Fiona Loudon.

Rather than pass his money to his children, Mr Craig said he planned to spend it or give it away.

In a Hollywood interview published this week in Candis magazine, Mr Craig made reference to Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-born US industrialist and one of the wealthiest men in history.

“Isn’t there an old adage that if you die a rich person, you’ve failed?” he said. “I think Andrew Carnegie gave away what in today’s money would be about $11 billion, which shows how rich he was because I’ll bet he kept some of it too.

“But I don’t want to leave great sums to the next generation. I think inheritance is quite distasteful. My philosophy is: get rid of it or give it away before you go.”

The importance of privacy

Mr Craig and Ms Weisz rarely talk about their children and have not disclosed their daughter’s name.

He has said of fame: “It’s nothing I should complain about, really, because I also have huge benefits out of being who I am. But the fact is that privacy is a hugely important part of my life, and this ‘being a celebrity’ makes me nervous, actually.

“There is a side of my life that I just choose not to share and not to discuss. I think people’s private life is something private, and that’s that.”

Mr Craig also has a teenage stepson, Henry, through Weisz’s previous relationship with Darren Aronofsky, the film director.

He is not the first wealthy celebrity to announce that they will not be passing on millions to their offspring. Sir Elton John, who has two sons with David Furnish, has said: “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.