If Hollywood ever makes a TV show about Warren Buffett’s three children — Howard, Susan, and Peter Buffett — it might look more like “The Brady Bunch” than “Succession.”
People “love to feed on” shows like “Succession” that feature wealthy siblings squabbling and having problems with each other, Peter said in a CNBC interview aired Tuesday night as part of a two-hour special titled: “Warren Buffett: A Life and Legacy.”
But the Buffetts had “no trappings or any of that growing up, so we’re just not, we’re not that,” he said.
“We grew up expecting nothing, to be honest,” Howard said. “It’s like watching the show ‘Dallas’ or something,” he continued, but “we don’t have any of that drama.”
Many people have a “false impression” of the Buffett family and think: ‘How the hell are we going to get along and do that?'” Howard said. “And I just don’t think it’s going to be hard.”
Buffett revealed in June 2024 that he would put virtually all of his roughly $150 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares into a trust, and task his three kids with giving the wealth away.
He said the trio, who already run their own foundations, would have to unanimously agree on how the money is distributed.
Buffett announced last November that he would accelerate his giving in the hope that his kids, now in their 60s and 70s, can disburse his wealth during their lifetimes.
In the interview, Howard talked about the immense scale of the sums involved, and how they’ll have to “write checks” to governments and institutions even though he’s “not a big fan” of that type of philanthropy.
Peter spoke about the “enormous pressure” of being responsible for one of history’s greatest fortunes. He quipped that when he phoned his father to tell him that he wished to opt out, Buffett replied: “I don’t blame you.”
Burglar alarms and slot machines
The trio underlined that Buffett wasn’t rich and famous when they were growing up, and always taught them humility and frugality, so they didn’t grow up pampered and entitled.
Susan said they attended public school, lived in a “regular neighborhood,” and took the bus to high school. In fact, she didn’t even know what her dad did for work.
She recalled being asked in first grade to write down his occupation, and her mother telling her to write “security analyst.”
“I thought he checked burglar alarms,” she joked.
Howard said that Buffett drove a Volkswagen when they were little, and only upgraded to a Cadillac when he began picking up business associates from the airport.
“It wasn’t because he wanted a Cadillac,” Howard said. “He didn’t care what car he drove.”
Howard said his mother “would take me to my after-school stuff in Uncle Freddie’s old beat-up station wagon, and I was so embarrassed because it was going to break down anytime.”
He and his siblings used to earn an allowance for doing chores such as cleaning out the gutters, mowing the lawn, and raking leaves, he said. But then Buffett “got pretty clever” and started giving it to them in dimes, and then bought a dime slot machine, he added.
“So he would get most of his allowance back. At least with me, he got a lot of them back,” he quipped.
