He was over 20 years old when he knew that his father was a billionaire, “embarrassed” by his excessive thrifty lifestyle
Susan Alice Buffett (commonly known as Susie) was born in 1953. She is currently the chairwoman of the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Sherwood Foundation, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of Berkshire Hathaway since the end of 2021.
She used to surprise many people when she revealed her growing up process. Although she is the daughter of a billionaire Warren Buffett but she is not used to the “privileges” that grow up like any other normal person.
Even when she was over 20 years old, Susan Buffett knew her father was a rich man.
“I didn’t realize how rich my dad was until I graduated high school and left home for a long time,” Susan told Business Insider.
“I happened to read an article in the Wall Street Journal when I was 22 or 23 years old. That was the first time I had the feeling: It turns out that I still don’t know a lot about my own family,” Susan shared.
In a documentary about the life of investment legend – Warren Buffett, she told about the life of the whole family in a house in Omaha (Nebraska, USA). It was a “nothing special” period.
“He comes to the office every day, then comes home and has dinner. Then he went upstairs and read books all night. But he was still at home, and we lived like everyone else, nothing too special. My father still lives in that house now,” said the billionaire’s daughter.
Later, when she thought back, Susan realized there were some signs that her family had a pretty good income. For example, her mother was the one who created a scholarship program when Susan was in high school. Although this scholarship fund is only awarded to a few children each year, whenever there is extra money, the Buffett wife does it.
On another occasion, the author of the financial book Supermoney, Adam Smith, went to the house to meet the billionaire. Susan was in high school at the time and heard the title of the book.
“At the time, I just thought it was okay, but didn’t realize the truth behind it,” recalls Susan.
Not only Susan but also her two younger brothers were raised as completely normal families. Peter Buffett – the youngest son in the family, once said that he walked to school by himself and studied with the same English teacher as his mother.
“For many years, we really didn’t know what our father did. It was very mysterious,” said Peter. “In fact, when my sister was in the 4th or 5th grade, she always filled in job information. parents’ profession is ‘Security Analyst.’ Possibly composer, musician and author as well.”
In a documentary, the legendary investor’s daughter also shared about her father’s simple lifestyle. He often buys used, even damaged, cars at a discount. Once repaired, they became part of his daily life.
She was even so “embarrassed” that she had to tell her father, “it looks so embarrassing, time to buy a new car”, when he used them for so long, repairing them over and over again.
Warren Buffett and Susan Alice Buffett at an event. Photo: Alchetron
Explaining this to Forbes, billionaire Warren Buffett said: “I only drive about 5,500 km a year so I very rarely buy a new car.”
In addition, he also wants to save time having to get used to and learn to use when buying a new car. Obviously he has enough money to do it, but always lacks time because every hour, every minute of the billionaire needs to be used wisely.
Famous for his simple lifestyle, Warren Buffett still lives in the five-bedroom Omaha home he bought for $31,500 in 1958, or $285,000 in 2020. He also uses a flip phone for a long time. , while almost the whole world has turned to smartphones. To him, yachts or planes are just “toys” and “debts”.
From an early age, Warren taught three children, Susan Alice Buffett, Howard Granham Buffett and Peter Buffett about love between people.
His children said that principle has been inculcated through their family culture and is always expressed through actions, not words. They believe that an education is the most valuable investment from a father.
Billionaire Warren Buffett’s three children are all heavily influenced by their father’s special upbringing. Photo: Internet
When the billionaire announced that he would donate about $ 31 billion to Gates’ charity, Susan and two brothers said they fully supported this decision.
Like their father, the three sisters all enjoy a comfortable, though not lavish, life. Warren Buffett’s longstanding view of inheritance is that he will give his children “enough money so that they feel able to do anything, but not so much that they sit idle”. Typically, in 2006, he gave each of his children $1 billion to charity of his own accord.
When Susan wanted to ask for a loan of $41,000 to renovate the kitchen after giving birth, the billionaire flatly refused and said, “Don’t borrow money from me. If you need a loan, go to the bank like everyone else. .”
As a father, Warren Buffett uses a method to let his children fail and succeed naturally without too much intervention. He once told one of his sons: “I believe in you because you are my son, you will succeed without anyone’s help”.
He believes that experience is very important and that when you fall down and get up on your own, you will feel so much better about yourself. In an interview with People in 2017, Susie Buffett said of her father: “It’s true that my father doesn’t care about having a lot of money.” Instead, she said that Warren Buffett values family.
Susan Buffett was greatly influenced by such a special upbringing. She was encouraged to follow her own passion and live independently.
She once dropped out of the University of California, Irvine, majoring in home economics because she liked the job of an administrative assistant, even though she only made $525 a month. After that, she had time to move to Washington and work at magazines.
There, Susan met her husband, Allen Greenberg, a lawyer who works for the public interest of Public Citizen. Before getting to know Susan, Greenberg had never taken the time to think about the owner of Berkshire Hathaway, much less expected that the billionaire would become his father-in-law.
According to Susan, Greenberg once told her in the late 1980s, “I think the smartest, most interesting person I could work with is your dad, but don’t tell him that.”
At the present time, Susan Alice Buffett is divorced from Mr. Greenberg. They have two children together. Susan currently runs her foundation and serves on the board of the foundation named after her mother. In October 2021, she was also elected a member of the Board of Directors of Berkshire Hathaway.
Susan Alice Buffett has been elected to become a member of the Board of Directors at Berkshire Hathaway Corporation in 2021. In the proxy statement, the group said it was looking for “people of great integrity, understanding and understanding. business, cares deeply about the company and its interests.” Photo: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
In addition, Warren Buffett’s eldest son, Howard Buffett, has been on the board of Berkshire since 1993. Howard Buffett is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps as chairman.
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