Billionaire Warren Buffett's favorite Christmas gifts for relatives include dresses, chocolate and cash envelopes.
Cash and stocks
"He always gave each of us a pack of 10,000 USD in cash," Mary Maryettett, who was married to Peter, the son of Warren Buffett, from 1980 to 1993, told ThinkIDIA. "As soon as we get home, we will sell it."
The famous investor and billionaire of Berkshire Hathaway Group changed the gift after realizing that his children had quickly spent the equivalent of 30,000 USD at present.
"Once upon a time at Christmas, we received an envelope from our father. Instead of cash, my father gave us a company stock worth $10,000 that he had just bought. Our father said we could sell for money or keep stocks," Mary said.
Mary decided to keep the stocks and after they appreciated, she repeated the strategy with Warren's gifts later.
"Every year when my father gives us a stock, I only buy more because I know it will increase in price," said Wells Fargo, one of Buffett's children.
directly
Buffett is known for being cautious in allocating resources over Berkshire companies. He is also famous for being an effective shopper during Christmas.
The billionaire's strategy in the 1960s was to visit Topps, a clothing store in his hometown of Omaha, and give employees a list of dress sizes for all the women in the family - Alice Schroeder wrote in his biography "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life".
"They took out the dresses - Buffett said - I made many decisions and bought gifts for my sisters, Susie, Gladys... I was very excited about shopping."
Christmas sticky rice and chocolate
Buffett sends See candy boxes - one of Berkshire's best ever investments - to dozens of relatives and friends each year, his longtime friend Carol Loomis wrote in Fortune magazine. Each box comes with his annual Christmas card.
In 2013, the post office showed Buffett dressing up as Walter White in the drama Breaking Bad with the message, "Give yourself a small Christmas with Meth-y".
In 2016, the Christmas trophy featured Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger wearing black tickets as the image of two characters in the movie "Butch Cassidy and The Sudance Kid" with the caption "Butch & Sundance".
Last year, a Christmas card printed with Warren Buffett wearing a T-shirt printed with the words "The Next Charlie Munger" (the next Charlie Munger) with the caption "Aiming High in 2019". Billionaire investor Charlie Munger, Vice President of Berkshire Hathaway Group, is a close associate and is considered the "right-hand man" of Warren Buffett.
