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Scientists identify different factors of longevity: heredity, regular exercise and smoking cessation. But billionaires have their own methods. We talk about the secrets of the health of tycoons in years
Warren Buffett, 90
Condition: $ 107 billion
Warren Buffett is known around the world as an investment guru: in 2021, he entered the top 5 richest people in the world, earning $ 17 billion from shares of five companies alone.
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Success Story
The billionaire made his first investment at the age of 11: through his sister, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for $38,25 apiece. First they fell in price, and then rose to $40. Buffett immediately sold them. A few days later, quotes rose to $200, and the future billionaire learned the rule that he still uses today: stocks must be bought for the long term and held without fear of periodic drops in value. Later, for his ability to predict stock quotes, Buffett was nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha (Omaha is the city in Nebraska where Buffett was born).
Buffett’s investment house Berkshire Hathaway used to be a textile manufacturer. In the 1960s, the future tycoon began to buy her shares. In 1964, the owner of the company, Seabury Stanton, offered Buffett to buy his shares at $11,5. When Stanton sent an offer that included a different, less attractive price of $11,38 apiece, an enraged Buffett simply bought a controlling stake in Berkshire Hathaway. The future billionaire made it an insurance company and began to invest not in bonds, but in stocks. Berkshire Hathaway is now number one on the list of financial holdings by revenue.
Secrets of longevity
Even in his old age, Buffett loves his job and still does it every day. A couple of years ago he wrote:
“I can’t buy time, I can’t buy love, but I can do anything with money, pretty much. And why do I jump out of bed every day, and at 88 I am happy? Because I love what I do and the people I do it with. I have here (at Berkshire Hathaway. — Trends) only 25 people. We go to baseball together. They are trying to make my life better, and I – theirs.
The billionaire reads regularly and spends about 80% of his day doing this. Scientists say that this is useful not only for the development of business thinking, but also in principle for mental health and emotional intelligence.
Buffett eats like a child:
“I checked with modern data and noticed that there is a low mortality rate among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like them, which is the safest way to go.”
In 2015, he stated that the secret to his longevity was the daily use of five cans of Coca-Cola: three regular and two cherry. “I am a quarter of Coca-Cola,” the billionaire told Fortune. For the same reason, Buffett eats at McDonald’s three times a week.
We do not call to follow the example of Buffett. Such a diet can be harmful due to the high content of sugar and fat.
Charles Munger, 97
Condition: $ 2,2 billion
Munger is best known as the owner of the Daily Journal publishing house, vice president of Berkshire Hathaway, and Warren Buffett’s right-hand man. Future billionaires were born in the same city – Omaha – and as children worked in Buffett’s grandfather’s grocery store.
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Success Story
“I met Charlie in 1959 when he had already moved from Omaha to Los Angeles. I was 28 at the time and he was 35. The Omaha doctor who introduced us predicted that we would get along and we hit it off,” Buffett wrote of his longtime partner in his 2014 annual letter to shareholders. Later, the Oracle of Omaha said that Berkshire Hathaway was built exactly according to Munger’s plan.
Secrets of longevity
In February 2021, Munger spoke about the rules for a long and happy life:
- do not envy;
- do not be offended;
- don’t spend too much money;
- stay cheerful despite the difficulties;
- do business with reliable people;
- do what you have to do.
“All these simple rules work great and make your life better. And they are very banal <...> “Remaining cheerful” is a “wise act”. Is it possible to be cheerful when you are completely mired in deep hatred and resentment? Of course not. So why not do it?” Munger added.
Read more about Munger’s investment strategies in the material: “I never had ideas.” How Buffett’s best friend invests.
David Murdoch, 97
Condition: $ 2,1 billion
Murdoch is the head of Dole Food Company, the largest supplier of fruits and vegetables, and real estate agency Castle & Cooke.
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Success Story
As a child, the future tycoon suffered from dyslexia. He left school in the 9th grade and got a job at a gas station, and at the age of 20 he enlisted in the US Army. After the war, Murdoch did not have a penny in his pocket. He would have remained without a roof over his head if the stranger had not donated a small amount to him. Later, Murdoch bought the diner, and 10 months later he sold it for a significantly higher price. So the future billionaire began to engage in real estate.
In the early 1980s, Murdoch bought a majority stake in Dole Food. Almost at the same time, the billionaire found out that his wife had cancer. The couple spent almost two years traveling the world in search of information about potential cures. In 1985, Murdoch’s wife died. Since then, the billionaire has embraced the principles of healthy living that the couple learned about during their travels.
Secrets of longevity
In 2003, Murdoch founded the California Health and Longevity Institute (CHLI). The billionaire himself expects to live to 125 thanks to a healthy lifestyle, sports and diet. In 2013, in an interview with Forbes, the businessman revealed several secrets of his longevity:
- Since the age of 60, Murdoch has followed a vegetarian diet. He also eats about 20 servings of vegetables and fruits a day – mostly in the form of smoothies and always with the skin. According to Murdoch, neither banana peels nor orange peels should be thrown away: “Anything the sun touches should be mixed with food for nutritional completeness.”
- The magnate prefers to get vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates from food and avoids nutritional supplements and, above all, “empty” calories. During an interview with the New York Times, he even pushed away a dish of butter and asked the waiter to “get death off the table.”
- Murdoch advocates mindful eating: “We have created a culture where we eat with our taste buds, not our brains. It’s never too late to change the way you eat – once you do, your body will thank you for a longer, healthier life.”
The billionaire is convinced that sports should be fun, and people should do them regularly. He cites the Volkswagen experiment as part of The Fun Theory marketing campaign as an example. In 2009, the steps of a staircase at one of the Stockholm metro stations were turned into piano keys – by walking along them, one could extract different sounds. The cameras showed that the next day, almost all passengers went up and down only the new stairs, ignoring the escalator that was working nearby. So Volkswagen experts proved that people’s habits can be changed for the better with the help of “fun”, and advertised the new eco-friendly brand BlueMotion. According to Murdoch, sports can be fun if you alternate between different activities. The billionaire himself takes turns riding, yoga and strength training.