Warren Buffett's Son Says His Allowance Was 75 Cents A Week As A Kid – And His Billionaire Dad Would 'Win' Every Penny Back

You'd think being the child of one of the richest men in the world might come with some lavish perks, but Warren Buffett's kids had a much more down-to-earth upbringing. In fact, according to his son Howard, they grew up thinking they were just like everyone else. 

Back in 2006, Howard Buffett spoke to Good Morning America in an exclusive interview and shared that his weekly allowance was a modest 75 cents – and his dad wasn't afraid to win every penny of it back!

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In a truly "Warren" move, the legendary investor installed a slot machine in the attic, where his kids would run to spend their allowance. Howard recalls, "Anybody who doesn't think my dad is smart – as soon as he started giving us the allowance, he put a slot machine up in the attic and we'd go up there and he'd win every penny back." Howard joked that despite years of trying, he could never quite get those winning combinations to line up. "In 10 years, I couldn't get three of those melons to line up."

While many billionaires might spoil their children with extravagant lifestyles, Warren took a different route. He famously said he plans to leave his kids "enough money so they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing." In other words, they wouldn't be handed the reins to a fortune without earning it.

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Buffett's approach to inheritance ties back to his greater philosophy on money – which ultimately led him to pledge the majority of his wealth to charity. In 2006, he stunned the world when he pledged to donate $37 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At the time, his kids were hardly surprised. They had grown up knowing that their father didn't place much value on passing down riches and fully supported his decision. Susan stated in the interview, “The truth is it would be insane to leave us that much money."

However, Buffett told the Wall Street Journal this year, "The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death." Instead, his children will control his wealth through a charitable trust. 

Buffett's children – Susan, Howard and Peter – run their own charitable foundations. Howard's Foundation, for example, has impacted over 42 countries, while Peter's Novo Foundation has focused on education and equality initiatives. The Novo Foundation has also poured hundreds of millions into transforming a small New York town. Susan's charitable work includes early education programs for low-income families.

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Despite their father's wealth, all three siblings maintained a humble perspective. Growing up, they didn't even fully understand what their dad did for a living. In a 2011 Freakonomics podcast, Peter explained, "Growing up, we really had no clue what my dad did for a living." He shared that he and his sister thought he was a "security analyst," and his job entailed checking security alarms. 

Susan says she was in her early 20s when she learned about her dad's wealth from reading an article in The Wall Street Journal. Even though they were children of a billionaire, their upbringing was anything but lavish, filled instead with lessons in responsibility, hard work and – apparently – the occasional slot machine trickery.

So, while the world might know Warren Buffett as one of the most successful investors, his kids got to know him as the dad who would win back their allowance, penny by penny. And long after those 75-cent weeks, they've carried that frugality and sense of purpose into their own lives, managing charitable foundations and leaving their mark on the world.

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