Warren Buffett snubbed daughter Susan's $41,000 loan request to remodel kitchen, gave her surprising advice to…
Warren Buffett, the chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway, snubbed his daughter when she sought financial help to renovate her kitchen.
Warren Buffett, the chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the wealthiest people in the world with a net worth of $142 billion, snubbed his daughter when she sought financial help to renovate her kitchen.
According to a report from Benzinga, which is known for offering financial and market information, Warren Buffett gave his daughter Susan a frugal lesson when she asked for a loan. He advised her to go to the bank for that instead just like other people.
Warren Buffet's daughter recalls her normal childhood
Susan Buffett, who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, admitted in an old interview that she had no idea that her father was financial powerhouse till the age of 3 as his family continued to live a typical life despite his growing wealth.
Due to Buffett's commitment to leading a modest life, his daughter wouldn't learn about her father's fortune until she was in her early 20s. She did not discover about it through conversations with family members, but from an article in The Wall Street Journal.
“We lived pretty much like everybody else,” Susan told Business Insider. “Nothing was too different. Really, we lived in what I guess I would describe as an upper-middle-class neighborhood. He still lives in the same house today.”
Susan Buffett opens up about her kitchen story
Susan appeared in the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett that sheds light on her father's frugal ways. She asked her father for a $41,000 loan to refurbish her kitchen after having a baby, according to a 2011 Globe and Mail article. However, Warren advised her to “go to the bank like everyone else.”
In 2017, Susan resurrected the popular kitchen story and clarified that she wasn't requesting assistance. “I thought I was asking for a loan. I was not asking him to give me the money,” she said. Explaining her feelings after his refusal to lend money, she shared, “I thought, oh come on, can’t you do this?”
Susan recalled that she joked to her mother that one day she would wind up homeless on the cover of People magazine because her dad would suddenly become extremely wealthy and "we'll all be wandering around.”
She stressed that she never thought her dad was being cheap or “thrifty.”
Susan believes that her father's values had positively impacted their life in the right manner. Even after being denied the loan, she thought: “I basically think he's been right.”