Why You Won't See Warren Buffett Driving A Rolls-Royce
Billionaire investing wizard and philanthropist Warren Buffett wouldn't be the "Oracle of Omaha" if not for his prodigious business acumen. His first business was peddling five-pack gum sticks around his Omaha neighborhood for a nickel per pack, and he was just six years old (per Entrepreneur). Born Warren Edward Buffett on August 30, 1930, he bought his first six shares of Cities Service Preferred (CITGO) at just eleven years of age. He made $53,000 from delivering newspapers, collecting stamps, selling used golf balls, and detailing cars by the time he turned 16.
Warren Buffett returned to Omaha in 1956 after graduating from the Columbia Business School and studying the value investing concept pioneered by Benjamin Graham, renowned as "the father of value investing." Buffett took control of textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 1965. He turned it into a diversified investment company worth $654.32 billion through various subsidiaries in retail, insurance, utilities, railroads, and manufacturing services.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Buffett is currently the world's seventh richest man, with a $103.4 billion net worth (per Forbes), and he's known internationally as the most successful investor of the 20th and 21st centuries. Despite his twelve-figure treasure chest, the "Oracle of Omaha" rarely indulges in ultra-expensive luxury cars like Bentleys or Rolls-Royces. You'll be fascinated to learn why he prefers to keep it simple despite his Mariana Trench-deep pockets.
Warren Buffett prefers American cars
If multi-millionaire athletes and celebrities like seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Jay Leno could amass an astonishing collection of ultra-rare and costly automobiles, what more if you're a billionaire like Warren Buffett?
However, Buffett is partial to American-made cars and rarely buys a new vehicle since he only drives about 3,500 miles annually. He bought a VW Beetle in the 1960s and kept it for a year, and he became part-owner of a Rolls-Royce in high school (per Forbes), but Buffett prefers a Ford or a General Motors vehicle if he needs a new car –- something worth admiring from a man who could buy any car he likes.
Warren Buffett is not the only billionaire to forego expensive cars in favor of more straightforward, fuel-efficient rides. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (net worth $90.2 billion) prefers a Ford Fusion Hybrid, and Alice Walton –- the wealthiest woman in the world with a $60.7 billion net worth –- prefers a Ford F-150 King Ranch as her daily driver. As it turns out, Buffett is simply to frugal to throw top-dollar towards an automobile, particularly given the limited amount of miles he drives.
From Cars to Jets
Many consider Warren Buffett the most frugal billionaire alive. He only started using an iPhone in 2020 after refusing to get rid of his trusted Nokia flip phone, despite owing 5.6% of Apple's stock. Moreover, he still lives in the same five-bedroom Omaha house he bought in 1958 (per Entrepreneur). But according to Motor Biscuit, Buffett is the proud owner of a Bombardier Challenger 600 jet. He loved it so much that Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets in 1998. This company leased private jets and allowed owners to purchase a portion or share of the aircraft (fractional jet ownership or shared ownership).
Buffett announced in 2006 that he would donate more than 80% of his wealth to charity (via Fortune). And in 2020, he raised the amount to 99% and stated that much of that would go specifically to the Gates Foundation (per Britannica). Buffett once said: "Wall Street is the only place people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway." The quote is not a diss on luxury automaker Rolls-Royce, but it perfectly summarizes Buffett's wealth management approach.