An Uzbek talent show and Sinatra songs: Buffett got hooked on watching YouTube

Legendary investor Warren Buffett, who recently stepped down as chairman of the board of directors at Berkshire Hathaway, spends his evenings watching videos on YouTube, according to The Wall Street Journal. The billionaire’s friends told the publication about his hobby. Buffett himself declined to comment on his habits.

As a rule, Buffett watches videos almost every evening in a recliner at his home in Omaha, according to the WSJ. The 96-year-old investor prefers to watch on a large TV. This aligns with the preferences of most Americans: last year, YouTube became the most popular video service in the U.S. for viewing on TV screens rather than on mobile devices.

According to Buffett’s friends, the billionaire almost never watches investment or finance content on YouTube. Most often, he chooses videos related to his long-standing passions—railroads, Nebraska, musicals, and jazz big bands—and also watches Frank Sinatra’s performances from the 1930s. In addition, Buffett enjoys performances by unknown artists and content created for the platform by Berkshire Hathaway.

“Warren has a very wide range of interests,” Sharon Osberg, a close friend of the investor, told the WSJ. According to her, she and Buffett spent several hours in August watching YouTube at his home. Among the content they watched was a documentary about attorney Roy Cohn, who is referred to as Donald Trump’s mentor, and the Uzbek version of the show “America’s Got Talent.” Recently, Buffett has also been rewatching YouTube videos of speeches by his longtime partner Charlie Munger, who passed away in 2023, the WSJ reports.

In the morning, Buffett traditionally reviews company reports and watches the business channel CNBC, but he devotes almost his entire evening to YouTube, according to the WSJ. Sometimes, the next day, he comes into the office and shares his impressions of what he’s seen. The investor’s friends joke that he knows YouTube so well he could advise the platform’s management.

In addition to YouTube, Buffett enjoys rewatching old movies. He likes the Turner Classic Movies channel, which sometimes airs one of his favorite films—“12 Angry Men”—starring Henry Fonda, who is also a native of Omaha. Another of the investor’s favorite films is *Lost in Translation*, starring Bill Murray, a longtime Berkshire investor.

Buffett has been reluctant to embrace new technologies for most of his life, according to the WSJ article. It took him years to get an iPhone, and he still has other people send and receive emails for him. When it comes to investing, billionaire Buffett has traditionally preferred “value stocks” over fast-growing tech companies.

The exception was Apple, which Buffett called “the best business” in Berkshire’s portfolio. However, Buffett classifies the iPhone maker as a consumer company rather than a technology company. As of the second quarter of 2026, Apple was Berkshire’s largest investment.

The top three also includes Alphabet—the parent company of Google and YouTube. Berkshire Hathaway first invested in it in 2025. Buffett claimed that he made this decision himself, not his subordinates. At the same time, the investor acknowledged that Alphabet is not among his favorite holdings.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor