In this article, we will talk about the 16 billionaires who live like regular people. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, head straight to the 5 Billionaires Who Live Like Regular People.
Most of us dream of having a fortune and enjoying a luxurious life when we are rich. Some of the wealthiest people in the world try to live like regular people and use their wealth for investment and philanthropic purposes. Some of the top billionaires in the world have higher wealth than the GDP of some countries, however, they prefer a frugal lifestyle over excess. Of course, the majority of the billionaires will have properties worth millions because of their overall wealth. But their spending pattern wouldn’t be the purchasing of luxurious items and spending too much on fancy cars.
Billionaires have a business mindset and have certain rules that make them super-rich. They have discipline in their lives and rather than focusing on the luxury they try to invent new business ideas and scale them. Some of the most influential entrepreneurs today have a net worth of billions of dollars.
Billionaires Donations
Frugal billionaires have a modest lifestyle and they tend to wear normal clothing and spend their money wisely. Most of the global billionaires who live like regular people are philanthropists. In August 2010, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates created ‘The Giving Pledge,’ to gather ultra-rich Americans and seek their pledge to donate their wealth to address society’s most pressing problems. The Giving Pledge soon attracted the attention of global philanthropists and now it has 241 signatories from 29 different countries including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Edythe Broad, among others.
American philanthropists are among the biggest philanthropists in the world. The world is facing a global economic crisis and due to that the American billionaires saw a drop in their fortunes. Despite the drop in billionaire fortunes in 2022, there was an increase of $27 billion in philanthropic donations last year, surpassing the total gain of $20 billion in the last two years. The 25 biggest donors had donated almost $196 billion over their lifetimes through the end of 2022, as per Forbes.
In 2022, Americans donated nearly $499.33 billion, as per the National Philanthropic Trust. The largest philanthropic donations in the US were from individuals, who contributed $319.04 billion, which is almost 64% of total giving in 2022.
Billionaires’ Businesses
Life of billionaires mainly revolves around their business. Billionaires have created businesses and scaled them to new heights. They follow a routine and have discipline in their daily life activities. Billionaires have businesses in different industries and they hold a considerable stake in the market. Finance and investments, manufacturing, technology, fashion and retail, food and beverage, healthcare, and real estate are the biggest industries for billionaires in 2023, as per Forbes. Finance and investments have 14% of the total billionaires, while manufacturing and technology have 10% of the total billionaires, respectively.
Warren Buffett is the biggest investment tycoon and has a net worth of $110.9 billion, as of October 28. Buffett has pledged 99% of his wealth to go to charity. Buffet is one of the most modest billionaires in the world and he still resides in the same home he purchased for $31,500 in 1958. Buffett owns one of the biggest holding companies in the world, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B), from where he generates his wealth. Since 2006, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE:BRK-B) CEO has donated nearly $51 billion through the giving of his company shares. The biggest beneficiary of Buffett’s donation is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has received more than $39 billion in shares from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B).
Warren Buffett’s long-term strategy has been investing in undervalued stocks and investing for the long term. On October 30, The Motley Fool reported that Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE:BRK-B) subsidiary, New England Asset Management (NEAM), has been investing in three historically cheap stocks. According to the 13F filing, NEAM purchased 36,450 shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), 21,900 shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), and 6,400 shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the quarter that ended in June 2023.
Bill Gates has been at the forefront of global innovation. Founder of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Gates has been adding value to the global tech industry. Moreover, through his philanthropic activities, he has contributed billions to various non-profit and profit organizations. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has diversified investments across different sectors. On October 26, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced its collaboration with Submittable, a leading grants management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) platform. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will help Submittable to innovate its platform and create new solutions through its Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI services. Here is what Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) representative said regarding this partnership:
“By partnering with companies like Submittable, we can help more organizations increase their social impact effectiveness through technology that delivers better alignment of funding and other critical operational elements that enable them to deliver on their missions.”
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, is one of the biggest philanthropists in the US. Scott has pledged to donate almost half of her wealth throughout her lifetime. Scott owns nearly a 2.6% stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), as of the January 2023 schedule filing. According to Yield Giving, Scott and her foundation have donated almost $14.4 billion to more than 1,600 non-profit organizations. Lately, Scott has been donating large amounts to nonprofits in Chicago. On October 30, Business Wire revealed that Scott gifted $5 million to Skills for Chicagoland’s Future. This grant will allow Skills to support employment for overlooked talent in Chicago and expand its network across the US.
Let's take a look at the list of billionaires who live like regular people.
16 Billionaires Who Live Like Regular People
16 Billionaires Who Live Like Regular People
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the billionaires who live like regular people, we gathered data from Forbes. First, we took the wealthiest billionaires and checked their philanthropy scores. We then narrowed it down to the billionaires with a philanthropy score of 4 and 5. The higher philanthropy score describes a larger percentage of wealth donations. We have hypothesized that the billionaires who have made larger donations live a much simpler life and continue to give away a big portion of their wealth.
Here is the breakdown of the Forbes philanthropy score:
A score of 4 means 10% to 19.99% of wealth is given away.
A score of 5 means more than 20% of the wealth is given away.
For similar philanthropy scores, we have considered net worth as a tie-breaker, and the individuals with higher net worth are ranked higher. We took the net worth data from the Forbes Real Time Billionaires database.
An important note: We only considered American billionaires as the philanthropy score is only available for them.
Our list is ranked in ascending order of philanthropy scores, primarily, and net worth, secondarily.
16 Billionaires Who Live Like Regular People
16. Dustin Moskovitz
Philanthropy Score: 4
Net Worth (As of October 28): $11.9 Billion
Dustin Moskovitz is a co-founding member of Facebook. He resides in San Francisco, California along with his wife and children. Moskovitz left Facebook in 2008 and co-founded a workflow software firm, Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN). Dustin Moskovitz lives a modest life and is one of the top billionaires who live like regular people.
15. George Kaiser
Philanthropy Score: 4
Net Worth (As of October 28): $13.2 Billion
George Kaiser lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is part of the Giving Pledge. Kaiser has given away almost $2 billion through the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser lives a simple life and continues to donate his wealth for the betterment of society. George Kaiser ranks 15th on our list of billionaires who live like regular people.
14. Donald Bren
Philanthropy Score: 4
Net Worth (As of October 28): $18 Billion
Donald Bren lives in Newport Beach, California, and lives a modest life. Bren has been an influential figure in the US real estate industry. Bren has donated around $2.1 Billion in total philanthropic donations. Donald Bren ranks among the billionaires who live like regular people.
13. Jim Simons
Philanthropy Score: 4
Net Worth (As of October 28): $30.7 Billion
Jim Simons resides in East Setauket, New York, and has a beautiful house originally built in 1935. Simons is the founder of the quantitative trading hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. Jim has donated around $4 billion to philanthropic causes and ranks among the billionaires who live like regular people.
12. Michael Bloomberg
Philanthropy Score: 4
Net Worth (As of October 28): $96.3 Billion
Michael Bloomberg has quite a few homes to live in. Bloomberg has a residence in New York, where he mainly lives. Former Mayor of New York, Bloomberg spends most of his wealth on charity and political funding. Michael Bloomberg is one of the billionaires who live like regular people.
11. John Arnold
Philanthropy Score: 5
Net Worth (As of October 28): $3.3 Billion
John Arnold has his residence in Houston, Texas. Arnold is one of the most successful traders and he founded the hedge fund firm, Centaurus Advisors. Arnold is part of the Giving Pledge and lives a simple life. John Arnold ranks 11th on our list of billionaires who live like regular people.
10. Amos Hostetter Jr.
Philanthropy Score: 5
Net Worth (As of October 28): $3.5 Billion
Amos Hostetter Jr. resides in Boston, Massachusetts, and he is one of the most generous donors in the US. Amos' family's Barr Foundation gives away tens of millions of dollars each year. Amos Hostetter Jr. is one of the billionaires who live like regular people.
9. Jeff Skoll
Philanthropy Score: 5
Net Worth (As of October 28): $4.2 Billion
Jeff Skoll has his residence in Los Angeles, California. Jeff Skoll’s Skoll Foundation and Skoll Global Threats Fund have donated nearly $1.12 billion worldwide, aiming to reduce poverty. Jeff Skoll has a modest lifestyle and ranks among the billionaires who live like regular people.
8. Lynn Schusterman
Philanthropy Score: 5
Net Worth (As of October 28): $4.5 Billion
Lynn Schusterman is the wife of the late Charles Schusterman and lives in Tusla, Oklahoma. Lynn is a prominent philanthropist and advocate for social change. Lynn Schusterman is one of the notable billionaires who live like regular people.
7. Pierre Omidyar
Philanthropy Score: 5
Net Worth (As of October 28): $6.1 Billion
Pierre Omidyar owns several properties and lives in Honolulu, Hawaii. Pierre is part of the Giving Pledge and is a notable philanthropist. Pierre Omidyar lives a modest life and ranks seventh on our list of billionaires who live like regular people.
6. George Soros
Philanthropy Score: 5
Net Worth (As of October 28): $6.7 Billion
George Soros has a large estate in Katonah, New York. Soros is 93 years old and lives a simple life. He has been one of the Democratic Party's most generous donors. George Soros ranks sixth among the billionaires who live like regular people.