Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity FairFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in his signature uniform.
Frugality is a subjective term. To the average Joe it could mean eating meals at home or scouring the Internet for cheap flights. But to a billionaire it means showing up to work in a t-shirt and jeans, driving a Toyota or Volkswagen, and in some instances, foregoing the purchase of a private jet or lavish vacation home.
A handful of frugal billionaires appear on our list of the richest people on earth, and each one has his own penny-pinching habits.
From eating lunch in the office cafeteria with their employees to residing in homes worth a fraction of their wealth, these seven self-made billionaires — many who are also generous philanthropists — know the secret to keeping their net worths high.
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Net worth: $60.7 billion
The "Oracle of Omaha" is one of the wisest and most frugal billionaires around. Despite his status as the third-richest person on earth, he still lives in the same modest home he bought for $31,500 in 1958, doesn't carry a cell phone or have a computer at his desk, and once had a vanity license plate that read THRIFTY, according to his 2009 biography.
Buffett also has a decidedly low-brow palate, known not just for investing in junk-food purveyors like Burger King, Dairy Queen, and Coca-Cola but filling up on them as well. The Buffett diet includes five Cokes a day, as well as Cheetos and potato chips.
At his annual shareholder's meeting in 2014, Buffett explained that his quality of life isn't impacted by the amount of money he has: "My life couldn't be happier. In fact, it'd be worse if I had six or eight houses. So, I have everything I need to have, and I don't need any more because it doesn't make a difference after a point."
Charlie Ergen, chairman of Dish Network
Net worth: $14.5 billion
Charlie Ergen is a notoriously frugal business leader, but he also nickels and dimes in his personal life. Ergen has said his frugality hearkens back to his mother's childhood."My mom grew up in the Depression," he told the Financial Times. "I don’t have a mahogany desk."
The self-made billionaire packs a lunch of a sandwich and Gatorade before work every day, and until recently, he shared hotel rooms with colleagues during travel.
Carlos Slim Helú, founder of Grupo Carso
Net worth: $23.5 billion
Rather than spending his fluctuating fortune, Carlos Slim funnels his billions back into the economy and his vast array of companies. He once mused to Reuters that wealth was like an orchard, "what you have to do is make it grow, reinvest to make it bigger, or diversify into other areas."
The 75-year-old is by far the richest man in Mexico, but he forgoes luxuries like private jets and yachts and reportedly still drives an old Mercedes-Benz. Slim runs his companies frugally too, writing in staff handbooks that employees should always "maintain austerity in prosperous times (in times when the cow is fat with milk)."
The businessman has lived in the same six-bedroom house in Mexico for more than 40 years and routinely enjoys sharing home-cooked meals with his children and grandchildren. He's got a couple of known indulgences, including fine art — in honor of his late wife — and Cuban cigars, as well as an $80 million mansion in Manhattan, which he was trying to sell last spring.
Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA
Net worth: $39.3 billion
Kamprad is the second-richest man in Europe, but you wouldn't know it flying next to him in economy class or eating lunch with him in IKEA's cafeteria. Save for a flashy spending-spree in the 1960s when he drove a Porsche and wore custom-made suits, the Swedish furniture-maker has been incredibly frugal — some may even say "cheap" — with his billions, including driving a decades-old Volvo and frequently riding the bus.
The 89-year-old is worth more than $39 billion, but when he moved home to Sweden in 2013 after spending 40 years in Switzerland (dodging high taxes, nonetheless), he happily returned to his modest one-story ranch home.
Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex
Net worth: $66.8 billion
The founder of Zara was recently named the second-richest person on earth, but that probably won't change his personal spending habits. Ortega has led an extremely private life for years, often retreating to his quiet apartment in La Coruña, Spain, with his wife, frequenting the same coffee shop, and eating lunch with his employees in the Zara headquarters cafeteria.
Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Limited
Net worth: $16.5 billion
India's wealthiest tech tycoon has also been called "the bare bones billionaire" and someone who "makes Uncle Scrooge look like Santa Claus."
The 70-year-old is worth $16.5 billion, but that hasn't stopped him from jumping on one of India's three-wheel auto rickshaws to get home from the airport or keeping tabs on the toilet paper usage at Wipro offices. Premji also flies economy, drives secondhand cars, and always reminds employees to turn off the lights at the office.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook
Net worth: $42.8 billion
Despite his status as one of the richest tech moguls on earth, Mark Zuckerberg leads a low-key lifestyle with his wife Priscilla Chan and their newborn daughter. The founder of Facebook has been unabashed about his simple t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans uniform."I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make," Zuckerberg said.
The trappings of wealth have never impressed the 31-year-old; he chowed down on McDonald's shortly after marrying Chan in 2012 in the backyard of their $7 million Palo Alto home — a modest sum for such an expensive housing market and pocket change for a man worth almost $43 billion. In 2014 he traded in his $30,000 Acura for a manual transmission Volkswagen hatchback.
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