Most people imagine the rich living lavish lives and driving around in the most expensive and fanciest of cars along with huge houses and yachts and even a private plane but some of the World’s richest people, that is billionaires who can actually afford times ten of these things do quite the opposite.
Table of Contents
Instead, they go for a simpler lifestyle, one in which frugality is at its peak even with their accumulation and monetary success. Believe it or not, there are several high-profile celebrities or billionaires that drive around in cars you see regularly on the roads every day. Even some that are much older.
5 Billionaires Who Still Drive Cheap Cars
Alice Walton:
She is the wealthiest woman in the world valued at nearly forty-five billion dollars. Wal-Mart co-heir Alice Walton is as frugal as can ever be, but her reason might be a bit more sentimental. Her father and founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, drove a 1979 Ford F-150 before his passing. Now, Walton drives a newer, but still quite old, 2006 Ford F-150 King Ranch which could be her way of keeping his memory.
Mark Zuckerberg:
Somewhat characteristic of millennial software moguls, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg does not place much stock in what he drives. His reasons for going with a modest Acura TSX valued at just $30,000, along with a Volkswagen GTI are that they are safe, comfortable and not ostentatious.
Steve Ballmer:
Steve Ballmer, the owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, has a sentimental connection to his affordable sedan, the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid originally valued at about $28,000. His father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Company and for that reason, Ballmer has strictly been an owner of Ford throughout his entire life and even had his Fusion delivered personally by Ford’s then CEO Alan Mulally.
Ingvar Kamprad:
The founder of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad, is extremely frugal, claiming once that nearly everything he wears was bought at a flea market. He even became angry when he found out that the old furniture at the Ikea head office had been replaced with higher-end furniture — Ikea’s very own product. For close to twenty years, Kamprad drove the very same 1993 Volvo 240 GL. He only recently replaced it due to a friend convincing him that his car was now so old it was dangerous to drive.
Warren Buffett:
The king of frugal himself, anyone who has studied Warren Buffet knows just how frugal he can be. He methodically orders the same one of three different options from McDonald’s every morning for breakfast, $3.17 on the top end when the market is doing well and he wants to actually spend. In addition to that, Buffett drove the same 2006 Cadillac DTS for nearly a decade before his daughter had to convince him (out of embarrassment) to upgrade to a new Cadillac XTS with a retail value of $45,000. Always methodical in his actions, he told Forbes, “I only drive about 3,500 miles a year so I will buy a new car very infrequently.”
Why These Billionaires Prefer Cheap Cars
- Remembrance Of A Loved One: In order to keep the memory of a loved one, the billionaire would prefer driving the person’s favourite car or a new but cheap version of the person’s favourite car to keep the person in their heart forever.
- Less Depreciation: Having money to invest is way better. The investment will appreciate. A car will only depreciate. A new car starts depreciating as soon as you drive it off the automotive company. In general, a new car is worth just 40% of what you paid after 5 years. You will only lose less money with a cheaper vehicle. A better way they win the depreciation game is to buy a used or a classic car. Used cars already lost a lot of value so depreciation would not be that painful. The right classic car can hold its value or even appreciate over time.
- Cheaper Cars Could Serve As A Means Of Side Hustle For Them: Yes, even though they are very rich, they still want to indulge in side hustles to keep the money flowing in. They can use their cheaper cars to work side gigs with no issues. They could be an Uber driver, delivery pizza person, or share t the car. This would not be possible with a Rolls Royce or Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.
- Luxury Features Are No Big Deal To Them Anymore: Luxury and performance are not a big deal to them. As long as the car is reliable and has a good safety rating, that is enough. Cloth seats are good enough for them as opposed to leather seats. Most of them do not even need proximity keys when they have thumbs that can do the job. The old-style cruise control is good enough for them. Adaptive cruise control probably would make them sleepier anyway. Basically, most of these features never existed before and if people could survive them, why not them too?
- There Is No Need To Baby A Cheap Car: Having to check on your luxurious car every now and then can be a task that most billionaires would not even want to go into. They would rather choose a cheap and old car that can withstand all forms of ruggedness and driving without having to be babied or taken care of that much.
