Does Warren Buffett Really Eat McDonald’s Every Day?

In 2017, HBO released its documentary Becoming Warren Buffett, which featured a scene of Buffet himself claiming he spends $2.61, $2.95, or $3.17 every morning at McDonald’s. But does this frugal nonagenarian billionaire really eat McDonald’s every day?

Warren Buffet may not eat McDonald’s food every day, but he eats it a lot. According to Buffett himself, he eats breakfast there every morning when he goes to the office and eats the restaurant’s Chicken McNuggets at least three times a week for lunch. He also drinks five Coca-Colas each day.

It may sound a little whacky, but Buffett insists that it’s true. And since he celebrated his 90th birthday on August 30, 2020, we can’t really fault him for his dietary choices. Keep reading to find out more about Warren Buffett and his eccentric eating habits.

He Doesn’t Actually Eat McDonald’s Every Day

After the premiere of the 2017 HBO documentary, people went crazy over Buffett’s McDonald’s-every-day diet, but the truth is that he doesn’t really eat it every day. While he was commuting to the office on the weekdays, though, McDonald’s breakfast was a regular part of his morning weekday routine.

He also eats Chicken McNuggets three times a week for lunch, drinks five Coca-Colas a day, and eats plenty of Dairy Queen ice cream and See’s Candies. He’s also a voracious consumer of salt, claiming he salts just about everything that can be salted.

Why Does Warren Buffett Eat So Much McDonald’s?

In 2015, Buffett gave an interview with Fortune, during which he shed a lot of light on what most of us would call his ‘unhealthy eating habits.’ From claiming that he was “one quarter [sic] Coca-Cola” to telling the reporter he’d had “a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream” for breakfast that morning, Buffett certainly didn’t shy away from talking about his diet.

But why does he eat the way he eats? Why does he love McDonald’s and Coca-Cola so much?

Buffett said he eats the way he eats because he “checked the actuarial tables” and found that the lowest death rates were found among six-year-old children. He then went on to say, “So I decided to eat like a six-year-old. It’s the safest course I can take.”

He’s now made it into his 90s and is still one of the top ten richest men in the world, so I suppose he must be doing something right, although I’m reasonably sure no dietician in the world would endorse his daily caloric and sugar intakes.

What Does Warren Buffett Order at McDonald’s?

In addition to the thrice-weekly Chicken McNuggets, Buffett is also a frequent consumer of McDonald’s breakfast items.

For several decades, Buffett has ordered one of three menu items from the McDonald’s breakfast menu. When he’s feeling thrifty, he orders two sausage patties. But when he wants to splurge, he orders a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. At other times, he gets a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit.

Does Warren Buffett Get Free McDonald’s?

In a 2007 interview with CNBC, Buffett pulled out his wallet and shared some of its contents with journalist Becky Quick. One of those contents was a McDonald’s gold card.

Warren Buffett’s McDonald’s card gives him unlimited free food and drinks at any McDonald’s restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska. The card has no expiration date and allows Buffett to eat as much McDonald’s as he likes for the rest of his life, as long as he’s eating it in Omaha.

During the same interview, Buffett also revealed that Bill Gates had a similar card, but that Gates’ card worked for any McDonald’s in the world. He then followed that up with a cheeky, “Mine is only good in Omaha, but I never leave Omaha, so mine is just as good as his.”

Warren Buffet’s Daily Routine

If there’s one label that applies to Warren Buffett other than “filthy rich,” it would be “a creature of habit.” While I’m sure there was a day every now and then when he varied his routine a little, for the most part, Buffett stuck to a pretty established daily schedule pre-COVID-19.

The pandemic forced Buffett, then in his late-80s, to spend much more time at home. Since then, he’s continued to spend a significant time working from home.

However, we’re going to discuss his pre-COVID routine.

He usually woke up around 6:45 in the same house he’s been living in since 1958. He would drink a can of coke, get ready, and head into the office. Along the way, he usually stopped by McDonald’s for one of his three daily breakfast items.

Once at the office, Buffett said he spent most of his day reading. Sometimes he’d head to McDonald’s for lunch; other days, he’d hit Dairy Queen instead. At home, he’d read more, spend time with his wife, and enjoy his downtime. He was usually in bed by 10:45.

These days, he spends a lot more time at home, but he still does a lot of reading, eating fast food, and working.

Buffett Is Surprisingly Frugal

Despite his extraordinary wealth, Warren Buffett isn’t a big spender.

In addition to eating a cheap breakfast that costs less than $4 each day, Buffett also still lives in the same house he bought in the 50s. He only drives reduced-priced cars (cars with cosmetic damage, usually), shops practically and “off the rack,” and doesn’t spend money on the newest and most innovative technologies.

He also avoids using credit cards whenever possible and clips coupons to save money. Buffett believes in developing relationships with other people instead of trying to buy happiness with money and things.

Final Thoughts

Warren Buffett may not have the healthiest diet in the world, but he insists it’s been working for him all these years. Maybe he just has good genes, or maybe there’s something in all that McDonald’s food that works to preserve him just as well as it preserves the food.

Either way, Buffett has been walking the world for nine decades now, and he’s still in reasonably good shape. If he’s made it this far eating McDonald’s almost every day, there’s really no good reason to stop now.

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