Getty Image / Paul Morigi
Warren Buffett has been one of the wealthiest men in America for decades. The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ is currently ranked as the 5th wealthiest person on earth with a personal fortune of $120.9 billion, amassed through decades of success with Berkshire Hathaway.
Warren Buffett has three children, Peter, Susan Alice, and Howard Graham. Nicole Buffett is the adopted daughter of Warren’s son Peter, and she was cruelly disowned by her grandfather after appearing in a 2006 documentary about children from wealthy families.
The One Percent is a 2006 documentary from director Jamie Johnson who is also known for Born Rich in 2003. Warren Buffett was apparently so incensed by his adopted granddaughter appearing in the documentary that he wrote her a letter cruelly disowning her. This was after she’d spent every Christmas with her grandfather from ages 4 to 11 and countless other visits to his home in Omaha.
In a recent article on Benzinga, the little known story of Buffett disowning his adopted granddaughter was revisited. Jeannine Mancini writes:
The rift became apparent after Nicole participated in Jamie Johnson’s 2006 documentary, “The One Percent,” which delved into the lives of America’s wealthiest individuals and their families. Buffett was not happy with her participation and sent her a letter stating, “I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin.”
Family members can often be cruel to one another. It’s a sad phenomenon, family members being cruelest to the ones they love the most. This, however, appears to be something outside of that. He straight up said that Warren Buffett has no emotional or legal adoption of the girl his son adopted. One would imagine his reaction to a grandchild appearing in The One Percent would be the same, adopted or not, but bringing up her adoption and his detachment from it appears to have been used strictly to inflict cruelty.
Separated from her grandfather, Nicole Buffett did remain close to Warren’s first wife/her grandmother Susan who passed on in 2004. The article states that Susan Buffett called Nicole one of her “adored grandchildren” in her will where she left her $100,000. And went on to add that Nicole “shall have the same status and benefits … as if they were children of my son, Peter A. Buffett.”
These days, Nicole Buffett is an artist. A 2022 feature in Fortune claims Nicole “has made a living off of NFTs.” That’s particularly interesting given that a report this week claimed 95% of all NFTs are essentially worthless now.
It costs nothing to be kind. Yet if it didn’t, Warren Buffett could afford it.