Warren Buffett: the billionaire who still lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 - and drinks cola while he earns billions; A look at his career, real estate, education and net assets

Updated May 4, 2025 11:20 is

Warren Buffett, the billionaire who still lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 and transformed the rejection into a financial revolution

Warren Buffett: The billionaire who still lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 – and transforms the rejection into a financial revolution

Warren Edward Buffett is proof that you do not need gold panels or a garage for 20 cars to be seen as really wealthy. While other billionaires are building rocket ships and AI laboratories, Buffett still drives to work, McDonald's breakfast and lives in the same stucco house, which he bought in 1958 for a total of 31,500 US dollars. Adapted to inflation, this is still a change of pocket compared to its net assets of 169 billion US dollars in 2025. But that's only buffet – in its unpredictability. While he officially prepares to hand over the reins of Berkshire Hathaway to Greg Abel, this is the perfect time to look back on the amazing, amusing and wonderfully reserved life of the man, which the world calls the oracle of Omaha.

For someone who regularly rubs his shoulders with CEOs and presidents, Buffett always felt more like a slightly eccentric neighbor with unshakable investment instincts and a weaknesses for root beer. How did this calculator child from Nebraska become the most revered investor in the world? Let us rewind the role.

Young Warren: The child who accused the IRS at 13

Most children at the age of 13 are worried about acne. Warren Buffett was concerned about tax deductions. This is correct – he submitted his first tax return in 1944 and has deducted 35 US dollars for his bike that were used for the delivery of newspapers. This was not an ordinary youth. At the age of 6 he sold chewing gum door to doors. At the age of 11, he bought his first stock – preferred three shares of the Cities service – and learned a bitter lesson too early after the sale. This experience probably sowed the seeds of his famous long -term investment philosophy.

Funny fact: As a teenager, he had a pinball machine business with a friend. They placed machines in hairdressing shops and used the profits to buy even more. Buffett had already dealt with real estate, used golf balls and earned enough money to buy a 40 hectare Nebraska farm.

Harvard's loss, Columbia's profit

Buffett's path to success was not without rejection. When the Harvard Business School rejected him, it could have been the end of the street for a fewer dreamers. Instead, it was the beginning of something legendary. He wrote down at the Columbia Business School, where he studied Benjamin Graham's investment.

Buffett tried to learn from Graham that he offered to work free of charge – an offer that was originally rejected. Finally Graham hired him and led to Buffett's immersion in the world of “Value Investing” – a term that is now synonymous with his name.

Croolty delicacies: Even then, Buffett hated an unnecessary risk. He once said: “The risk comes from not knowing what they are doing” and he spent his entire career doing his homework.

Berkshire Hathaway: From dusty mills to Wall Street Gold

Buffett did not start to create a conglomerate. He stumbled into it. He started investing with just $ 100 of his own money and a handful of partners. Finally, he used this partnership to buy shares in Berkshire Hathaway, then a fighting textile company.

Instead of reviving the textile business, Buffett gave. He converted Berkshire into a holding company and bought it with solid foundations and foreseeable income: Geico, Dairy Queen, See's Candies, BNSF Railway and more.

Record warning warning: The shares of class A from Berkshire Hathaway are now the most expensive share in history, which recently overlaid around $ 620,000 per share. That is a share, not a hundred.

Buffett's buffet: Burger, Cherry Cola and no truffle oil

You would think that someone with 169 billion US dollars would spear caviar that is served via gold leaf. Not buffet. His idea of culinary luxury? A McDonald's sausage biscuit – Price was adapted on this day based on the performance of the stock market. His drink of choice? Coca-Cola, for the melody of five doses a day.

His simple habits do not end there. He drives a modest car, has no yacht and once said that he finds expensive articles “a pain on the neck”. Buffett even avoids smartphones in favor of a flip phone of the old school. A billionaire without Instagram account and without interest in bending – as an endangered species.

Warren Buffett, the billionaire who still lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 with a Harvard refusal and a Columbia degree

Family man with a surprising wedding

Buffett married Susan Thompson in 1952 and collected three children together. Although Susan died in 2004, her relationship was known to be unconventional – she moved to San Francisco in the 1970s, but they stayed near. Buffett later married Astrid Mens in 2006 in a small, understated ceremony in his daughter's house.

Unexpected detail: Astrid and Susan were close friends, and the three even sent out Christmas cards together. Buffett's life, like his investments, always had its own unorthodox logic.

Give during life: a fortune with a purpose

Buffett may be economical with himself, but he is spectacularly generous with others. He has obliged to give away over 99% of his assets, especially about the Gates Foundation and his own basics. He started the promise together with Bill and Melinda Gates and asked billionaires to return something.

So far he has given away more than $ 50 billion– This is enough to buy Twitter several times and still have changes for several sports teams.

Buffett's favorite matters: Apple, Amex and a piece of Domino's

The Buffett portfolio is as distinctive as the man himself. He likes what he understands and he invests accordingly. This includes Apple (now its biggest holding), Coca-Cola, American Express, Bank of America, Chevron and even Domino's Pizza.

In recent years he has ventured into Japanese commercial houses and has been relating to conglomerates such as Mitsubishi and ITOCHU. He calls Apple a consumer brand rather than a technology company and said famous that he would never invest in Bitcoin because it “produces nothing”.

Real estate humility: the house that has built stubbornness

While tech moguls invest in Malibu men's houses and extensive retreats in New Zealand, Buffett stays loyal to his house with five bedrooms in Omaha. No private island. No mega-chance with a moat. Only a very lived house and a core land view.

He had a beach house in Laguna Beach for a while, bought in the 1970s for $ 150,000 and sold 2018 for $ 7.5 million. It was his version of Splurging.

Greg Abel, the chosen one

Now, at the age of 94, Buffett is ready to step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. His chosen successor is Greg Abel, a deputy chairman who is known for his operational ingenuity and buffet-like sensitivity. While Buffett plans to stay in an advisory capacity, Abel will have the last word about all important decisions from 2026.

The buffet era may be down, but the Berkshire Blueprint stays on the spot: buy wisely, manage lean, think in the long term.

What would Warren do?

Buffett's life is a master class to keep it easy, to stay curious and to oppose the urge to follow the crowd. It is a lively proof that good habits, clear thinking and an iron stomach for market fluctuations can transform a paperboy into a planetary shaking.

So next time you are tempted by a warehouse tip, a shiny new toy or a trendy life -hack – break, breathe and ask yourself: What would be Warren? Probably something boring, brilliant and confusingly effective.

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Warren Buffett: the billionaire who still lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 – and drinks cola while he earns billions; A look at his career, real estate, education and net assets – success stories