Abstract:
The 96-year-old investment legend has stopped drinking plain water since at least the 1970s. Hedge fund tycoon Bill Ackman recalled Buffett telling him this on last week's episode of the Equity Mates Investing podcast.
Ackman said that when Buffett came to his home for a dinner many years ago, he deliberately prepared the legendary investor’s favorite Cherry Coke in advance.
The founder and CEO of Pershing Square recalled: After everyone sat down, he asked Buffett if he wanted to drink room temperature white water or sparkling water. Buffett politely declined and chose his usual soda.
"I asked him at that time: 'Don't you drink water?'" Ackman recalled. "Buffett said: 'Bill, I haven't drank water in 48 years.'"
The reporter contacted Ackman later, hoping to learn more about Buffett’s drinking habits, but he has not responded yet.
It may sound unbelievable to never drink plain water, but Buffett is famous for it: he drinks 5 cans of Coke every day. In December last year, Buffett, who had been in charge of Berkshire for 60 years, stepped down as CEO and in September this year stepped down as chairman.
In 2015, he joked that a quarter of his body was Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola accounted for 25% of his daily caloric intake.
Buffett has been fond of soda for decades. At Berkshire's 1986 shareholder meeting, he announced that after following Pepsi-Cola for 48 years, he would switch to Cherry Coke and make Cherry Coke the official drink of future shareholder meetings.
Coca-Cola is also Buffett's iconic heavyweight target. After completing its position in the 1990s, Berkshire has held about 9% of the beverage giant's shares and has never reduced its holdings. The initial cost of this investment was approximately US$1.3 billion. As of the end of December, the market value was approximately US$28 billion, with a return of approximately 21 times.
Coke is just one part of Buffett's signature eating habits. Everyone knows that he buys McDonald's for breakfast on his way to work, and often eats hot dogs, French fries, popcorn, cookies, candies, ice cream and other high-calorie food to satisfy his cravings.
His preference for fast food and sweets is also reflected in his investment portfolio: See's Candy and Dairy Queen are both subsidiaries of Berkshire, and Kraft Heinz is also one of Berkshire's heavy holdings.
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