Why Did Warren Buffett Cut Off His Granddaughter, Nicole Buffett? What’s Their Relationship Today?

Being related to Warren Buffett doesn’t guarantee wealth. In 2006, the Oracle of Omaha disowned one of his grandchildren, Nicole Buffett, for publicly discussing the family’s wealth and only started talking to her again in recent years.

Key Takeaways

• Nicole Buffett’s mother married Warren Buffett’s son Peter, making Nicole the granddaughter of the world’s most famous investor.
• She said she spent time with him during her childhood and that he paid her college expenses but refused to fund anything else.
• Warren disowned Nicole in 2006 after she spoke publicly about her family’s fortune and lack of involvement in it.
• They have since reconciled, with Warren reportedly reaching out to Nicole during the pandemic to congratulate her on her success selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Who Is Nicole Buffett?

Nicole Buffett is an artist, entrepreneur, and the granddaughter of Warren Buffett. When Nicole was four, her mother married Warren Buffett’s son Peter, who later adopted her and her twin sister, making the world’s most famous investor her grandfather.

During her childhood, Nicole said she spent quite a bit of time with Warren. However, it wasn’t until she was 17 and saw him on the cover of Forbes magazine that she realized how wealthy he was.

Learning her grandfather was loaded didn’t translate into a series of handouts. Nicole said her grandfather covered her college expenses at a prestigious art school but refused to pay for anything non-school related, including a futon for her off-campus apartment.

Why Did Warren Buffett Cut Off His Granddaughter?

In 2006, when Nicole was about 30, she spoke about her experience as part of one of the world’s richest families for a documentary about wealth inequality called “The One Percent.” Her comments about her family’s fortune and the global wealth gap, together with a remark on “Oprah” that she’d like more involvement with the family business, were not well received by her grandfather.

Buffett responded by disowning Nicole and her twin sister. One of his spokespeople downplayed their relationship to Reuters, saying Nicole and Warren weren’t very close, that his son was no longer married to her mother, and that they didn’t see each other often. The person also hinted that Nicole’s living and school expenses had been covered by Buffett until she was about 28 years old.

Nicole, who also reportedly inherited $100,000 from Warren Buffett’s deceased wife, claimed she wrote Warren a letter asking why he disowned her. He responded that he and his family never considered her a real family member and hadn’t legally or emotionally adopted her as a grandchild.

What’s Their Relationship Today?

It’s not entirely clear what relationship Nicole Buffett and her grandfather have today. Warren doesn’t talk about her to the media, meaning the only way to interpret their status is from the few times Nicole is interviewed.

Judging by what she said, they are now on speaking terms again. In 2021, Nicole Buffett started selling NFTs of her abstract paintings. Around the same time, she claimed she and her grandfather reconciled.

In an interview with CoinDesk, Nicole said Buffett contacted her during the pandemic for the first time in years to congratulate her on her digital art ventures and express his excitement about giving “artists a chance to share their work, make a living on their work, and express themselves.”

The Bottom Line

Nicole and Warren Buffett’s relationship is hard to decipher. She was adopted by the investment juggernaut’s son and claims to have been close to him, while spokespeople for Warren say they barely saw each other and hinted that she started acting up when he stopped sending money.

Nicole is more vocal about the relationship. She says she and her grandfather are very different and sometimes clash. She also confirms the common perception that Buffett is frugal and a big believer in self-sufficiency.