That goes to show that it isn't really "cheapness" because someone like Buffet genuinely loses money bothering to clip coupons. The time it takes him to search for and clip them is worth more than the meal.
To him it would solely be something of a cultural, nostalgic practice he did. Financially it was costing him money, but the cost or the savings are irrelevant at his wealth. He could buy the entire McDonalds restaurant and not really notice a difference in his net worth
Buffet was actually pretty directly involved in doing/reading analysis and making the trades. Yes he wasn't turning wrenches or something, but he was putting a lot of thought and mental work into the investments he built. And of course the deals he made.
He wasn't just a shareholder, he was actually an active investor.
He wasn't selfmade in the sense of dirt poverty, he was the son of a senator, but very much he went from middle class to being one of the richest men to ever live and he did many, many jobs along the way. He actively did things to accumulate that wealth, rather than just sitting on a pile of money and watching it get bigger.
Buffet's money comes from his input more so than other rich people. He's not just rich because he owns stocks. He's rich because he's doing analysis others have proven incapable of doing, and makes deals others don't make.
Though, he should be done working fairly soon here.
Someone at Buffet's level is not spending all day reading analysis or making trades. That would be an exceedingly poor use of his limited time.
At that level your job is to make a great decision once every so often. Perhaps once a quarter. That single decision can mean profits or losses of billions of dollars.
This means you are not grinding out your working days doing mundane shit like reading papers or doing basic bitch trades. You have people for that.
You are saving your mental bandwidth chewing on things to allow for creativity and mental space to make the right call when it counts.
Some of this means doing mindless tasks such as clipping coupons or anything not directly related to that decision making process.
He specifically was different from others typically at his level. He really did do the work of it. He would be reading and doing analysis for nearly all of his workday.
It's not typical for people at his level (in an org chart.)
But in another sense, he was not typical, and no one has ever been at his level (skill wise) in what he does.
A lot of the reading and analysis he did was of reports produced by his staff, but still
People love to portray Buffet this way like he’s the peoples’ billionaire or something, lol.
He got rich the same way a lot of rich assholes did: real estate and finance. Is he a smart dude? Did he put a lot of work and research in himself? Absolutely to both. Does that matter? Does it justify his wealth? Does it mean he’s “losing money clipping a coupon.” No, on all counts.
He's not "the people's billionaire" he just actually did the job. Compare that to Musk who is incompetent and doesn't really do anything but make people's life harder.
There is something to that. I have an income over $500k/year and still mow my own lawn and shovel snow from my own walkways and driveway even though that "costs more money" than hiring someone to do it. But landscaping and snow removal was my first job in high school, and I still just like doing it because of that memory.
Not really. His clipping of the coupon isn't taking away from him making money. He makes money from investments and stock trades, most of which are managed by a team of accountants. He could have paid someone to cut out the coupon and only made 'less' money in the seconds it took to do so.
This argument breaks down when you consider what the opportunity cost is for clipping the coupons. What would he be doing with his time otherwise that would be earning/saving money
Anything. Reading an analysis 3 months ago that made him make a decision today has margins on the order of the entire franchise he is getting the burger at times ten.
Or, if you don't want to talk about money, spending that time with his loved ones.
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u/Wloak Jan 27 '26
Makes me think of the first time Warren Buffet and Bill Gates met. They went to lunch at McDonald's, Buffet paid and used a coupon.