Warren Buffett hasn’t had a glass of water since at least the 1970s.
That’s what the 96-year-old business icon once told Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager recalled during an episode of the Equity Mates Investing podcast that aired this week.
Ackman said that Buffett came over for dinner at his home “years ago,” and he’d made sure to stock up on the legendary investor’s favorite drink, Cherry Coke.
The Pershing Square founder and CEO said that once they were sitting at the table, he asked Buffett whether he’d like still or sparkling water. Buffett politely declined, opting for his preferred soda instead.
“But I said, you know, ‘Don’t you drink water?'” Ackman recalled. “And he said, ‘Bill, I haven’t had water in 48 years.'”
Ackman didn’t immediately respond to a request for more detail about Buffett’s hydration habits.
Not drinking water might sound unbelievable, but Buffett — who retired as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO after 60 years in charge last December, and as the company’s chairman this September — is famous for drinking five cans of Coke daily.
He quipped in 2015 that he was “one-quarter Coca-Cola,” as it accounted for 25% of his daily calories.
Buffett’s love of soda goes back decades. During Berkshire’s 1986 meeting, he declared that after “48 years of allegiance” to Pepsi, he was switching to Cherry Coke, saying it would be the meeting’s official drink going forward.
Coca-Cola has also been one of Buffett’s landmark investments. Berkshire hasn’t touched its roughly 9% stake in the beverage giant since it finished building it in the mid-1990s. The position cost about $1.3 billion and was worth around $28 billion at the end of December — a roughly 21-fold gain.
Coke is only part of Buffett’s iconic diet. He’s known for grabbing McDonald’s for breakfast on his drive to work, and munching on hot dogs, fries, popcorn, cookies, candy, ice cream, and other comfort foods.
His love of fast food and sweet treats extends to his investments. Berkshire counts See’s Candies and Dairy Queen among its subsidiaries, and Kraft Heinz among its largest stock holdings.
Buffett’s childlike tastes have led to issues in the past, including a disastrous sushi dinner in Tokyo.
Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda, went to great lengths to ensure the investor didn’t starve when he joined them on a 17-day trip to China in 1995.
They organized for their hotel’s chefs to be taught how to prepare hamburgers and fries, and when they climbed the Great Wall, they made sure to have Cherry Coke waiting for Buffett at the top.
