The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, is famed for his investment prowess. So it’s perhaps no surprise that when he learned his family members were blowing the thousands of dollars he gifted them each year, he changed tack and began buying them shares instead.
Come the most wonderful time of the year, members of the Buffett family previously looked forward to receiving $10,000 in hundred-dollar bills. Buffett’s former daughter-in-law, Mary Buffett—who was married to the Berkshire Hathaway CEO’s son Peter—said as soon as the guests returned home after Christmas Day, they would splash the cash.
Mary told ThinkAdvisor in 2019: “As soon as we got home, we’d spend it, whoo!”
This likely displeased the man worth $154 billion, whose financial ethos revolves around playing the long game and sensible spending. Mary added: “Then, one Christmas there was an envelope with a letter from him. Instead of cash, he’d given us $10,000 worth of shares in a company he’d recently bought, a trust Coca-Cola had. He said to either cash them in or keep them.”
Perhaps taking inspiration from her father-in-law at last, Mary decided to hold onto the shares: “I thought ‘Well, [this stock] is worth more than $10,000.’ So I kept it, and it kept going up.”
