Bill Gates once invited Warren Buffett to a sleepover and discovered him eating Oreos for breakfast
The best revelation here is that Buffett "has basically stuck to eating what he liked when he was six years old," Gates writes, meaning "he mostly eats hamburgers, ice cream, and Coke."
In fact, Buffett apparently insisted on Oreo cookies for breakfast during one early overnight stay at Gates' Seattle-area mansion.
"Our kids immediately demanded they have some too," Gates writes. "He may set a poor example for young people, but it's a diet that somehow works for him."
In fact, Gates writes, it once took Buffett months to realize that the seats on the chairs in his home's dining room were taken in for reupholstery, probably because he was simply "eating his Oreos and ice cream in the kitchen."
Other fun moments from the Gates-Buffett friendship:
- Gates only has two speed dial options set on his work phone: His house, and Buffett. Beyond just their work together on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where Buffett is a trustee, Gates says he often calls just to work through problems and get advice.
- Whenever Gates visits Omaha, Buffett picks him up.
- Buffett and Gates first met through Gates' mother...but Gates was busy with Microsoft and didn't want to go meet him. "Look, he just buys and sells pieces of paper. That's not real value added. I don't think we'd have much in common," Gates remembers telling his mom.
- Buffett is a very personable guy, and makes time for his friends. "Even though he keeps up a hectic schedule, Warren finds time to nurture friendships like few other people I know," Gates writes.
- In fact, Buffett sends Bill and Melinda Gates clippings of interesting articles he reads via the mail.
"Warren and I are mostly peers, but sometimes he is so much wiser than I am, he's like a father figure to me," Gates writes.