Warren Buffett’s Son Didn’t Know His Dad Was a Billionaire Until He Was in His 20s — Here’s How He Found Out

NEED TO KNOW

• Warren Buffett’s son, Peter Buffett, had no idea his dad was a billionaire until he was in his 20s

• Peter made the discovery about his father after the wealthy businessman was featured on Forbes‘ list of the richest Americans

• Warren is a dad to three children

Warren Buffett kept his billionaire status close to the vest while raising his children.

The businessman’s son, Peter Buffett, told Forbes in a past interview that he had no idea how wealthy his father was until after he was a teenager.

Recalling when he first saw that Warren, 95, was featured on Forbes‘ list of the richest Americans, Peter, now 67, told the publication, “Well, that would be about the time that we found out how much money we had as a family. I’m not kidding.”

“It was when I was in my 20s that my mom and I talked at some point, because there he was, on this list. And we laughed about it, because we said, ‘Well, isn’t it funny? You know, we know who we are, but everybody’s treating us differently now.’ It was a fascinating switch, although not a huge one, because we didn’t live in that world, or a cultural framework, where there was a lot of wealth being shown,” Peter, a musician, continued. “Our friends were as surprised as I was.”

Warren, for his part, added of the situation: “The kids were formed by that time, and they knew who their friends were, and their friends were their friends because they liked ’em, and not because they were the rich kid on the block or anything of the sort.”

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Warren is a dad to three children, whom he shares with his late first wife, Susan Buffett.

Daughter Susan Alice Buffett was born in July 1953, son Howard Buffett followed in December 1954, and Peter completed their family in May 1958.

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Warren and Susan separated in the late 1970s, but they never divorced.

Susan died from a stroke at age 72 in July 2004, but before her death, she introduced Warren to his current wife, Astrid Menks Buffett. (The pair wed in 2006.)

Warren, the chairman and former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, previously announced that he will donate his fortune — estimated to be $143.2 billion, per Forbes data — to a charitable trust after his death. His children will be in charge of the trust and have 10 years to allocate the money to charities of their choice.

“It’s not so easy to give away money if you want to do it smart, if you want to be intelligent about it,” Howard previously told the Associated Press of the decision. “It’s pretty amazing that he’s giving us this opportunity.”

Warren previously planned to donate his fortune to Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates‘ Gates Foundation, from which he resigned as a board trustee in 2021.

Until his death, Warren will continue to donate to the Gates Foundation annually, something he has done since 2006, and he will also continue donating to his family’s charities, including the one named after his late first wife, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.

Warren is currently the ninth-richest person in the world, behind Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Bernard Arnault and Jensen Haung, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.

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