Warren Buffett is no less famous than he is rich, but his frugality has made him one of the most interesting figures in the business world of the last century. He is 93 years old and has an estimated net worth of US$114.4 billion. He often makes headlines not only for his financial performance, but also for his simple lifestyle, far from what one expects from the world. Fifth richest person From the planet.
The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is known for his “cheap” tastes and low-key approach to technology: he loves fast food, never spends more than $4 on breakfast, uses a flip phone, and lives in the same house he bought for just over $4. $30,000 in 1958. He is said to have no computer on his desk and he sent One email in your entire life.
True luxury is doing what you love
“Success is doing what you love and doing it well,” Buffett said in an interview with CNBC. “It’s that easy. Truly being able to do what you love to do every day is truly the ultimate luxury. “Your standard of living is not equal to your cost of living.”
Your economy is not for personal gain. The Oracle of Omaha has donated billions to various charities and has promised to do the same with more than 99% of his wealth. In 2010, Warren Buffett and… Bill Gates They fired Give a pledgeThey asked other billionaires to commit to donating at least half of their wealth to charitable causes.
“Warren and I may seem incompatible. I’m a tech nerd. He’s an investor who doesn’t even use email (…) but when I met him, he asked me these great questions about the software business that no one had ever asked me before. Two hours went by. “And then hours and hours more. It’s been a deep friendship since our first conversation,” the Microsoft founder wrote in his blog. Gates notes in 2016.
The duo’s friendship has become stronger over the years. Currently, Gates considers Buffett one of his closest friends, and in an ode written to that relationship, the tech mogul revealed a funny anecdote with the famous investor.
Warren Buffett eats “like a 6-year-old”
“The one thing that was surprising when I learned about Warren was that he was eating what he liked when he was six years old. He mainly ate hamburgers, ice cream, and Coca-Cola. That’s one of the reasons why going out to dinner with him was so much fun,” she recalls. True, Buffett himself has stated on several occasions that he is a fan of McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Oreo cherry-flavored cookies.
“Here we are about to eat burgers and fries at a McDonald’s in Hong Kong,” Gates, currently the eighth-richest man in the world, wrote on his blog on a photo of two smiling people in line at McDonald’s. Warren, always frugal, pays with coupons. »
“I’ve learned many things from Warren over the past 25 years, but perhaps the most important thing is what friendship means. It’s about being the kind of friend you wish you had. Everyone should be lucky to have a friend as kind-hearted as Warren,” Gates concluded. “He does everything he can to make people feel good about themselves and share their joy in life,” he said.
“It reminded us how much you appreciate a good deal.”
One year later, in 2017 Bill and Melinda Gates Annual Letter, the businessman summed up the “McDonald’s incident” once again. “Do you remember how we laughed when we flew to Hong Kong together and decided to have lunch at McDonald’s? You offered to pay, reached into your pocket and pulled out… coupons!” he wrote. “Melinda just found this photo of me and the ‘big spender,'” he wrote. . “It reminded us how much you appreciate a good deal.”
Buffett’s simple choices don’t end with food. Still driving A Cadillac 2014 Purchased with hail damage. Before that, I drove an 8-year-old Cadillac. When he decides it’s time to buy a new car, he auctions off his old car for charity.
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