Tom Wood
Believe it or not, the world’s fifth richest man still lives in a house that he bought when he was a young man for the modest sum of $31,500. Seriously - check it out.
Warren Buffett, who now has a fortune of more than $100 billion according to the real-time Forbes Rich List, was once the richest man in the world.
He owns a company called Berkshire Hathaway that is just one of those companies that you might never have heard of, but you’ll definitely have heard of the companies that it owns.
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Names like Dairy Queen, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, and NetJets ring any bells for you?
Stick into that the fact that he owns diamond companies as well as having stakes in other huge companies like American Express, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Kraft-Heinz, you might be starting to get an idea of how wealthy the man who owns that bigger company is.
Anyway, Buffett was born in 1930 in Omaha and – unlike some of his other Rich List companions – he still has some frugal tendencies at heart and doesn’t want to stray too far away from his roots.
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That means he’s not planning on colonising any other planets, nor is he living in some huge space-age mansion in California that mere mortals – or folks without all the cash in the world – could only dream of dwelling in.
Nope, he actually lives in a house in Omaha, Nebraska that he bought way back in the 1950s – well before he became so wealthy – for about $31,500.
Sizing that up for 2022, the money he used would be around $250,000, but it’s still a modest house for someone that rich.
Buffett bought the house back in 1958 and he’s been living there for six decades.
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He also absolutely loves living there, having said in the past that he ‘wouldn’t trade it for anything’.
Of course, it’s not his only property, but it is his first and his favourite, by the sounds of things.
He reckons that others would do well to follow his advice in buying a house, although for many right now the chance would be a fine thing.
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He told CNBC: “If you know you’re going to live in a given area, or think it’s very likely, for a considerable period of time and you’ve got a family, the home is terrific.”
Buffett ranks this house as the ‘third best investment’ that he ever made, adding at the time: “[I] gained 52 years of terrific memories [in it] with more to come.”
The house has five bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms across 6,570 feet.
So, it’s hardly small.
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At the minute, Zillow estimates that it is worth around $1,240,000, which is still a small house for a billionaire, though it represents a nice return should he decide to sell up.
It’s unlikely though.
Buffett told BBC: "I’m happy there. I’d move if I thought I’d be happier someplace else.
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“How would I improve my life by having 10 houses around the globe?
“If I wanted to become a superintendent of housing … I could have as a profession, but I don’t want to manage 10 houses and I don’t want somebody else doing it for me and I don’t know why the hell I’d be happier.
"I’m warm in the winter, I’m cool in the summer, it’s convenient for me.
“I couldn’t imagine having a better house.”
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Fair enough, then.