Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Serena Williams, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and other rich celebrities who live in modest homes

Why do millionaires and billionaires pay so little for their houses? The answer may explain why they are so rich

The key to building wealth? Living in a home you can easily afford.

That’s according to Sarah Stanley Fallaw, the director of research for the Affluent Market Institute. She is an author of The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth, in which she surveyed more than 600 millionaires in America.

She found that no factor plays as big a role in accumulating money as where you choose to live. Most of the millionaires she studied had never bought a home that cost more than triple their annual income. Even some high-profile, ultra-rich people – from Mark Zuckerberg to Serena Williams – have bought homes well below their means.

To compile the list below, we compared each person’s net worth with the cost of their homes. We did not have the data to determine their net worth at the time of purchase, so we adjusted the house purchase price for inflation using an inflation calculator to compare that with their net worth today.

For example, the billionaire investor Warren Buffett bought a modest home in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1958 for US$31,500.

Adjusted for inflation, that’s equivalent to US$274,357 in today’s dollars, or just 0.0003 per cent of his US$82.1 billion net worth.
Everyone on this list owns a home that cost less than five per cent of their net worth.

As of 2017, the home was worth an estimated US$652,619. He called it the “third-best investment” he has ever made.

Meanwhile, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh lives in a Las Vegas trailer park called “Llamapolis” that he created in 2014 as part of his efforts to revitalise the city.

Llamapolis, which was inspired by the Burning Man festival, is home to 30 Airstream trailers and tiny houses. The cost of Airstream trailers ranges from US$25,900 to US$139,900. The most expensive option – US$148,750, adjusted for inflation – is just 0.02 per cent of Hsieh’s US$840 million net worth.

Hsieh said he founded Llamapolis “because I wanted to maximise serendipity and randomness in my life”.

Mark Zuckerberg lives in a home equal to 0.01 per cent of his wealth. He paid US$7 million for a house in Palo Alto in 2011, equivalent to US$7.8 million today. While that’s not an outright modest number, it is modest for a man worth US$71.1 billion.

It comes with a big backyard and a pool and lush, detailed landscaping.

Inside, the house has tons of windows for sunlight.

Evan Spiegel also lives in California. He bought the Los Angeles house he shares with Miranda Kerr, his wife, in 2016 for US$12 million, or US$12.6 million adjusted for inflation. That’s 0.57 per cent of his US$2.2 billion net worth.

The house used to belong to Harrison Ford. At 7,164 sq ft, the house has an open floor plan with plenty of sunshine.

Meanwhile, over in Beverly Hills is Serena Williams’ home that she bought in 2017 for US$6.7 million, or US$6.9 million in today’s dollars, only 3.8 per cent of her reported US$180 million net worth.

The 6,000-sq-ft, three-story Spanish-style residence sits on a quarter-acre lot in a gated community.

It has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a light and airy feel.

Outside, the grassy backyard has a built-in grilling station and a swimming pool.

Williams isn’t the only sports star living in a relatively affordable home. Shaquille O’Neal’s US$21.9 million Florida home, which sits on a lakefront property in a gated Orlando community, was put on the market in 2018.

He bought the house in 1993 for a little less than US$4 million, or US$6.9 million in today’s dollars. That’s 1.7 per cent of his US$400 million net worth.

The home has 12 bedrooms spread across 35,000 sq ft. O’Neal’s home also has many additional rooms, like a recording studio, a 17-car garage, a cigar bar and lounge, a home theatre and, of course, an indoor basketball court.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×