Inside Warren Buffett’s Surprisingly Modest Property Portfolio as He Steps Down as Berkshire Hathaway Chairman
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has officially stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway—marking the end of an extraordinary era for the 96-year-old businessman, whose approach to real estate has long been almost as unconventional as his investing career.
Berkshire Hathaway announced on Sept. 18 that Buffett has been named chairman emeritus, effective immediately, while his son, Howard G. Buffett, has been elected chairman of the board. Buffett will remain a director and continue to offer his insight to the company.
“As Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Buffett will remain a member of the Board of Directors and will continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective,” Berkshire said.
The transition comes months after Buffett relinquished his CEO duties to longtime Berkshire executive Greg Abel, completing a carefully planned changing of the guard at the company Buffett has been associated with since 1965.
“I have served Berkshire since 1965,” Buffett said in a letter to shareholders, released alongside the announcement. “Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world.”
Buffett isn’t disappearing from Berkshire entirely. As chairman emeritus, he will remain on the company’s board, while Howard takes over as chairman and Abel continues running Berkshire as CEO.
“Serving as your Chairman has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I have never taken your trust for granted,” Buffett wrote to shareholders while announcing the transition.
While Buffett’s decades at Berkshire turned him into one of the wealthiest people on the planet, he has never amassed the sprawling collection of mansions and lavish vacation retreats often associated with billionaire status.
Instead, his property history is surprisingly limited—and anchored by the same Nebraska house he purchased nearly seven decades ago.
His longtime Omaha home
At the center of Buffett’s real estate story is his longtime residence in Omaha, NE, which he purchased in 1958, when he was 28 years old.
Buffett paid just $31,500 for the five-bedroom property, which was built in 1921 and spans roughly 6,570 square feet. The home, where Buffett and his late wife, Susan Buffett, raised their three children, has remained his primary residence ever since.
Despite the enormous fortune he went on to accumulate, Buffett never traded the residence for a more extravagant billionaire compound.
The house has become closely associated with Buffett’s famously restrained approach to spending, particularly when compared with the vast portfolios owned by many of his fellow billionaires.
The property is estimated to be worth about $1.44 million—a substantial increase from its 1958 purchase price, but still a relatively modest sum for a man whose fortune has climbed well into the billions.
Buffett has also made clear over the years that his attachment to the home goes beyond its financial value, repeatedly speaking about his satisfaction with the property rather than seeking out something larger or more luxurious.
An early investment in Nebraska farmland
Buffett’s interest in properties began well before he purchased his Omaha residence.
As a teenager, the future billionaire used $1,200 of his savings to acquire a 40-acre Nebraska farm in 1944, making his first property investment at just 14 or 15 years old, depending on the timing of the purchase relative to his birthday.
Rather than working the land himself, Buffett arranged for a tenant farmer to operate it and split the proceeds—giving the budding investor an early lesson in owning an income-producing asset.
Decades later, he returned to farmland as an investment.
In 1986, Buffett paid $280,000 for a 400-acre Nebraska farm located north of Omaha, as per Architectural Digest.
The purchase further demonstrated his interest in land that could generate tangible, long-term returns rather than property acquired purely for status.
Buffett’s land holdings extend beyond Nebraska and include farmland in Arizona and South Africa.
California retreat
One of the biggest departures from Buffett’s otherwise understated real estate history came in 1971, when he and Susan purchased a vacation home in the exclusive Emerald Bay community of Laguna Beach, CA.
They paid $150,000 for the property at a time when the surrounding area was far less developed than it is today.
Buffett later said the decision wasn’t driven by an investment strategy—he bought the home because his wife liked it.
The three-level residence offered around 3,600 square feet of living space and six bedrooms, as well as a large deck with ocean views. Despite its coveted location, its interiors were relatively understated, with gray carpeting and white laminate kitchen countertops.
The property became a longtime family getaway, with Buffett and his family spending summers and Christmases there.
As the family expanded, so did their California footprint. Buffett acquired a neighboring residence to accommodate additional guests and connected the two properties with a staircase. He referred to the second house as the family’s “annex.”
But Buffett’s connection to the California retreat began to fade after Susan died in 2004.
He sold the neighboring property in 2005 and ultimately decided to part ways with the original vacation house as well.
Buffett initially put his Laguna Beach residence on the market for $11 million in 2017—46 years after paying $150,000 for it.
By August 2018, the asking price had been reduced to $7.9 million. The property ultimately sold for that amount later that year, according to previous reporting on Buffett’s real estate holdings.
Even at the reduced figure, the deal represented a dramatic increase over Buffett’s original purchase price.
It also left his property portfolio without one of its few traditional luxury homes.
The Laguna Beach residence stood in stark contrast to the Omaha house that Buffett has steadfastly held on to throughout his ascent from ambitious young investor to one of the most influential figures in American business.
Now, as he relinquishes the Berkshire chairmanship he held for more than five decades, that Omaha residence remains one of the most enduring constants of his life.