Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
She found that no factor plays as big a role in accumulating money as where you choose to live. Most of the millionaires she studied had never purchased a home that cost more than triple their annual income. Even some high-profile, ultra-rich people - from Mark Zuckerberg to Serena Williams - have purchased homes well below their means.
To compile the list below, we compared the cost of these homes to each person's net worth. We didn't have the data to determine their net worth at the time of purchase, so we adjusted the house purchase price for inflation using the US Inflation Calculator to compare against their net worth today.
Advertisement
For example, billionaire investor Warren Buffett bought his home in 1958 for $31,500. Adjusted for inflation, that's equivalent to $274,357 in today's dollars - just .0003% of his $82.1 billion net worth.
Everyone on this list owns a home less than 5% of their net worth.
Sarah Stanley Fallaw, director of research for the Affluent Market Institute, studied more than 600 millionaires for her book, "The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth."
If you live in a pricey home in an affluent neighborhood, you're more likely to mirror your neighbor's consumption habits and less likely to accumulate wealth over time.
Consider Warren Buffett, who lives in a modest home in Omaha, Nebraska, that he bought for $31,500 in 1958. Adjusted for inflation, that's about $274,357 in today's dollars.
The cost of Airstream trailers ranges from $25,900 to $139,900. The most expensive option — which costs $148,750, adjusted for inflation — is just .02% of Hsieh's $840 million net worth.
Mark Zuckerberg lives in a home that's .01% of his wealth — he paid $7 million for a house in Palo Alto in 2011. That's equivalent to $7.8 million in today's dollars. While that's not an outright modest number, it is modest for a man worth $62.9 billion.
Evan Spiegel also lives in California. He purchased the Los Angeles house he shares with wife Miranda Kerr in 2016 for $12 million, or $12.5 million adjusted for inflation — just .57% of his $2.2 billion net worth.
Meanwhile, over in Beverly Hills is Serena William's $6.7 million home that she bought in 2017. Adjusted for inflation, it cost $6.8 million — only 3.8% of her reportedly $180 million net worth.
Serena isn't the only sports star living in a relatively affordable home. Shaq recently put his $21.9 million Florida home, which sits on 700 feet of lakefront property in a gated Orlando community, on the market.
Shaq's home also has many additional rooms, like a recording studio, 17-car garage, a cigar bar and lounge, a home theater, and, of course, an indoor basketball court.