The Rich Spend, Too: The Whims, Grievances, and Passions of Wall Street Legends

Even outside the stock market, billionaires often continue to act as investors: they buy rare assets and turn their hobbies into long-term projects. And sometimes these expenditures turn out to be profitable. However, in this case, financial return is far from always being the top priority for investment gurus—behind many decisions to spend money earned on the stock market often lie personal passions, family histories, and their own ideas about what’s worth spending billions on.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Berkshire Hathaway. Forbes estimates his net worth at $144.4 billion.

Warren Buffett doesn't like to spend money unnecessarily, and he once even drove a car with a license plate that read "THRIFTY." He regularly eats breakfast at McDonald’s, where he typically spends $4–8 on a burger and a Coke, and has lived in the same house in Omaha for nearly 70 years. Buffett bought it in 1958 for $31,500. Today, the property is worth at least $1.5 million. The return has been impressive, but the investment horizon is equally impressive! Buffett calls the five-bedroom house the third most important investment of his life. He reserved the top two spots on this list for his wedding rings: the investor has been married twice.

Buffett had criticized corporate jets for years and considered buying one to be irrational. But in 1986, he did purchase a used Falcon 20 for $850,000—though he dubbed it “Unjustified.” However, the convenience of private flights changed his attitude: three years later, he bought a plane for $6.7 million, named it “Irreplaceable,” and joked that he even flew it to the pharmacy.

In 2010, Warren Buffett, along with Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, launched the Giving Pledge initiative, calling on billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charity. Buffett himself pledged to donate almost all of his wealth—more than 99%.

Founder of Citadel. Forbes estimates his net worth at $52.1 billion.

Ken Griffin has spent more than $450 million purchasing several adjacent parcels of land in Florida for his family estate, and is building a private marina in Miami because his 94-meter superyacht, the Defy, valued at $175 million , does not fit in the existing dock.

In 2019, Griffin bought the most expensive apartment in the country—a penthouse in Manhattan for $238 million. And this isn’t his first record in the real estate market: in 2015, he bought an apartment in Miami for $60 million, and in 2018, one in Chicago for nearly $59 million. In 2026, New York City Mayor Zoharan Mamdani recorded a video near the building where Griffin’s penthouse is located in support of a tax on expensive second homes. Griffin called this behavior “alarming” and made it clear that it was prompting him to invest more in Miami rather than in New York.

In the summer of 2024, an investor paid $44.6 million for it at Sotheby’s. “Apex was born in America and will remain in America!” Griffin said after the auction and donated the skeleton to the American Museum of Natural History in New York— though only for four years.

Interestingly, Griffin’s fascination with dinosaurs began several years ago: back in 2018, he donated $16.5 million to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago—for an exhibit featuring a replica of the largest dinosaur ever discovered, a giant long-necked herbivore from Argentina.

Founder of Appaloosa Management. Forbes estimates Tepper's net worth at $23.7 billion.

In 2010, David Tepper bought an oceanfront mansion for $43.5 million—at the time, it was the most expensive residential purchase in an upscale neighborhood on Long Island. It had been the summer home of the family of John Corzine, Tepper’s former boss at Goldman Sachs. Journalists immediately called the purchase an act of revenge: Corzine had previously refused to promote Tepper to partner. The investor did not deny this interpretation. He tore down the house and built a new one—covering more than 1,000 square meters, nearly twice the size of the old one.

Tepper is actively investing in professional sports. In 2018, he purchased the Carolina Panthers, an NFL team, for $2.275 billion—a record amount for the league at the time. Tepper paid for nearly the entire purchase in cash.

The following year, the billionaire paid $325 million to establish Charlotte FC—a record franchise fee for a new team in the history of Major League Soccer, the premier professional soccer league in the United States and Canada.

The new club is based at Bank of America Stadium, where the Carolina Panthers had already been playing: the arena became the home of two teams at once and gained the ability to host games almost year-round. Tepper then decided to renovate the stadium. He will invest $650 million in the project, which has a total cost of $1.3 billion; the state will cover the remainder. The billionaire expects that, following the renovation, the venue will be eligible to host the Super Bowl and other major sporting events.

Head of the hedge fund Point72 Asset Management. Forbes estimates his personal fortune at $23 billion.

In 2012, Cohen purchased an 8% stake in the New York Mets baseball club, and eight years later, he acquired a 95% stake for $2.4 billion, after which he took over management of the team.

He has another passion—art. Ten years ago, his art collection was already valued at over $1 billion, and his villas and office are adorned with original paintings by Picasso and Van Gogh. Among his notable purchases is Damien Hirst’s work *The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living*: according to various sources, Cohen paid between $8 million and $12 million for the real 4-meter tiger shark preserved in formalin. When it began to decompose, he paid to have it replaced. In 2017, Cohen purchased another famous installation: artist Maurizio Cattelan’s 101-kg gold toilet (the purchase price was not disclosed). In November 2025, Cohen sold the toilet at Sotheby’s for $12.1 million, including commissions.

Founder of Bridgewater Associates. According to Forbes, Dalio's net worth is $15.4 billion.

Since 2016, Ray Dalio, together with his son Mark, has been developing a nonprofit project to explore the world’s oceans: he has invested approximately $200 million in the OceanXplorer, an 87-meter research vessel. The former oil exploration vessel has been converted into a floating research station equipped with four laboratories, two manned deep-sea submersibles, underwater robots, and a helicopter. Scientists study samples right during the expedition, while a film crew immediately turns the discoveries into films and broadcasts.

Another area where Dalio spends his money is meditation. He began meditating in 1969, inspired by the example of the Beatles. The billionaire funds meditation centers and invests in promoting the practice within companies and educational institutions. He donated the proceeds from a charity auction—in which the winner received the opportunity to have lunch with Dalio—to the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes transcendental meditation training to help children, veterans, and people in difficult situations cope with stress.

Founder of Pershing Square Capital Management. Forbes estimates Ekman's net worth at $8.8 billion.

Bill Eckman doesn't like to waste money. He picked up the habit of saving from his parents: the billionaire turns off the lights when he leaves a room, can't stand unnecessary household expenses, and looks for cheaper parking if the price seems too high to him.

Ekman iscurrently fundinga major brain research institute: he has allocated $260 million for its construction. He and his wife, Neri Oksman, began discussing the idea for such a center after Oksman’s mother died of Alzheimer’s disease. At first, they abandoned the project because of its high cost. But after their 26-year-old daughter suffered a brain hemorrhage in February 2026 and nearly died, Ekman revisited the idea.

The institute will conduct research on genetics, nutrition, longevity, and recovery from neurological diseases, and part of the facility will be dedicated to neurosurgery.

Founder of Elliott Management. Forbes estimates Singer's net worth at $6.7 billion.

Paul Singer funds organizations and political campaigns that advocate for the rights of the LGBT community. He, too, has been influenced by his personal history: one of his sons came out and later married his partner. For example, in 2012, Singer contributed $1 million to establish American Unity PAC—a political action committee that supported Republican candidates who advocated for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

In 2013, he joined the “Giving Pledge” and has since been donating money to veterans, Jewish organizations, and pro-Israel groups. In November 2018, following the shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue, he allocated $1 million to upgrade the security systems at Jewish institutions in New York.

In 2018, Singer became the owner of the AC Milan soccer club by default: the club’s Chinese owner owed him approximately €400 million, including interest, and was unable to repay the next installment of the debt, amounting to €32 million. As a result, Elliott Management acquired AC Milan. After the purchase, the company planned to invest €50 million in the club to restore it to the ranks of Europe’s top teams, but in 2022, it sold the club to RedBird Capital Partners for €1.2 billion.

Head of the Baupost hedge fund. Forbes estimates Klarman's net worth at $1.5 billion.

One of Seth Klarman’s main passions is thoroughbred racing. He grew up near Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Since 1993, he has owned Klaravich Stables, and his horses regularly win prestigious races and have earned nearly $66 million in prize money.

In 2017, a stallion from the Cloud Computing stable won the Preakness Stakes. Clarman received the 2019 Eclipse Award—one of the top American awards in horse racing—as the best owner of Thoroughbreds, and his horse Bricks and Mortar was named the best in the U.S. In 2022, on Klarman’s 65th birthday, another stallion from the stable, Early Voting, brought him another victory in the Preakness Stakes.

The cost of the racehorses is not disclosed, but it is known that Cloud Computing was acquired in 2015 for $200,000, and that Klarman and his partner William Lawrence purchase approximately 50 horses each year.

Another area of importance to him is the fight against anti-Semitism and support for Jewish and Israeli organizations. From 2008 to 2010, Klarman donated $4 million to The Israel Project, an organization that provided journalists with materials and commentary on Israel. In 2012, he became one of the leading American investors and a co-founder of The Times of Israel.

—

In the “Guru Portfolios” section, you can track the holdings of the world’s largest investors and funds and see how they change over time. Based on 13F filings, the service displays the largest holdings, new purchases, and changes in the weightings of individual assets, and also allows you to compare portfolios across different time periods.

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