Everyone knows that Warren Buffett is known for being frugal. This is the billionaire who still lives in the same house he bought in Omaha for $31,500 in 1958 and is perfectly content with McDonald’s breakfast most mornings. But what is it like to be on the receiving end of gift giving? It turns out to be a mix of practical, surprising and downright hilarious.
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Though he’s often labeled “cheap,” even his daughter, Susie Buffett, has come to his defense. In a 2017 interview with Business Insider, she clarified, “My dad gets a bad rap for that. He’s been a lot more generous than people know.” And it’s not just about philanthropy – Buffett has given away billions to charities around the world – but also about the way he treats his loved ones.
For years, Buffett’s favorite Christmas gift for family members was cold, hard money — $10,000 in crisp $100 bills, to be precise. Mary Buffett, Warren’s former daughter-in-law and investing author, reminisced about that time in an interview with ThinkAdvisor:
“He used to give each of us $10,000 in hundred-dollar bills. As soon as we got home we spent it – whooo!’
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But Buffett, being Buffett, noticed a pattern. His family lost the money too quickly, so he decided to change course. One Christmas, instead of cash, he donated $10,000 worth of stock in a company he had recently invested in: Coca-Cola. Mary explained that the shares came with a letter that gave recipients a choice: “Cash them or hold them.”
Mary chose the latter option and it paid off. “I thought, ‘Well, this stock is worth over $10,000.’ So I kept it and it kept going up.” From then on, Buffett’s gift giving evolved into a mix of stock options carefully chosen from his latest investments, such as Wells Fargo.
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Dresses, delivered in Buffett style
In the 1960s, Buffett started a new unique holiday tradition: buying dresses for all the women in his family. But this was not a tailor-made, high-quality shopping experience. True to his practical nature, Buffett went to Topps, a local clothing store in Omaha, armed with a list of everyone’s sizes.
