Warren Buffett's House Is Not What You'd Expect

Warren Buffett is not someone you'd call poor. In fact, Forbes would argue that he's almost exactly the opposite, seeing as the Berkshire Hathaway chief's fortune of over $87 billion comfortably qualifies him as the third wealthiest man in the world. Can you imagine the house a man of such unfathomable wealth must live in? Is it a $127 million, 66,000 square-foot high-tech mansion paradise, like the Xanadu 2.0 complex Business Insider tells us Bill Gates lives in? Or maybe he prefers to have multiple places to himself, like Jeff Bezos, who Curbed reports owns a $70 million luxury home in the ultra-wealthy region of Medina, Washington, along with assorted properties in Washington D.C., Beverly Hills, and New York's Fifth Avenue. Still, why keep guessing? Let's all take a look at what must be the absurdly luxurious dwelling of Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha." 

Wait, hold on. That must be the wrong image. Surely, one of the richest men on the planet wouldn't even consider living in a place that looks like a rejected location for Desperate Housewives? Actually, the above domicile is totally Warren Buffett's home in Omaha, Nebraska. According to Business Insider, the 6,570 square feet, five-bedroom house is valued at just a little over $650,000, which is a total 0.001% of the billionaire's net worth. Even so, Buffett calls the place the "third-best investment he's ever made:" He bought it in 1958 for $31,500, which is the equivalent of just $250,000 today.  

See, that's the thing about Buffett. As Business Insider tells us, the man leads a pretty frugal existence that's dominated by reading and bridge (the game, that is – not, like, buying bridges as a hobby), and his main vice appears to be that he drinks unhealthy amounts of Coca-Cola. He prefers to pour his considerable funds to philanthropy, and as a founding member of the Giving Pledge initiative plans to donate over 99% of his fortune to worthy causes — and clearly, said causes don't include the "luxurious dwellings for Omaha-based billionaires" fund. In the end, the main reason Buffett stays in his comparatively modest home is simple: He likes the place. "I'm happy there," he says. "I'd move if I thought I'd be happier someplace else."