Warren Buffett’s one son is a farmer in Nebraska, another musician: The billionaire’s children didn’t know how rich their father was until adulthood

Warren Buffett built his reputation on knowing the value of money. Inside his own home, however, his children grew up with remarkably little sense of how much wealth their father had accumulated. That was deliberate. Peter Buffett, Warren Buffett's youngest son, has recalled that he and his siblings did not fully understand their family's financial position while growing up. It was only when he was in his 20s and saw his father's name appearing on a list of America's richest people that the scale of Warren Buffett's fortune became clear.

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The discovery was almost surreal. Peter later recalled that he and his mother laughed about the sudden realisation that the outside world viewed their family very differently from the way they viewed themselves. Their childhood, he said, had not been built around displays of wealth. Their friends were friends because of personal relationships, not because the Buffett children happened to have an extraordinarily wealthy father.

Warren Buffett did not raise his children as billionaire heirs

Warren Buffett has long been known for his relatively restrained lifestyle despite becoming one of the world's richest people. That philosophy also shaped the way he raised his three children with his first wife, Susan Thompson Buffett: Susan Alice, Howard Graham and Peter.

Peter, who went on to become a musician, has said that the family did not operate within a culture where enormous wealth was constantly visible. So when Warren's name appeared among America's richest individuals, the revelation came as a surprise not only to him but also to people who knew the family. Warren Buffett has explained that by the time his children understood the scale of his wealth, their personalities and friendships were already established. They knew who their friends were. And their friends knew them.

The Buffett son who chose a Nebraska farm

Howard Graham Buffett, Warren's middle son, took a particularly different route from his father. While Warren became synonymous with investing and Berkshire Hathaway, Howard developed a career around agriculture and conservation.

He has spent decades farming corn and soybeans and has worked in Nebraska and Illinois. His interests have also extended into soil conservation, food security and farming techniques designed to reduce damage to agricultural land. One of the most striking parts of his story began in 1986.

That year, Warren Buffett purchased a 400-acre farm in Nebraska for $280,000. The property was about 50 miles north of Omaha and had been acquired from the FDIC following a collapse in Midwestern farmland prices. Warren later rented the property to Howard.

It was not simply a wealthy father giving his son a farm to enjoy. The arrangement had business terms attached to it, reflecting Warren Buffett's famously numbers-driven approach. According to the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the rental deal involved an annual payment of 5% plus a percentage of the farm's gross receipts. The percentage could change depending on Howard's weight, with 182.5 pounds serving as the threshold. Howard later joked about the unusual provision, likening it to the Buffett family's own version of Weight Watchers.

Why Howard Buffett stayed close to the land

Howard did not completely leave the corporate world behind. He has served on Berkshire Hathaway's board since 1993 and has held senior business positions. But agriculture remained a defining part of his life. His farming interests eventually expanded beyond simply producing crops. He became closely associated with conservation agriculture, particularly no-till farming, a method that limits the amount of mechanical disturbance inflicted on soil. Howard has spoken positively about the technique, pointing to benefits such as lower fuel consumption and fewer tractor hours.

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His foundation has also backed agricultural research examining no-till farming and conventional tillage, as well as their effects on soil and crop production.

From Nebraska to a 1,500-acre Illinois farm

Howard's agricultural work was not limited to the Nebraska farm his father purchased. He has also farmed a 1,500-acre property in Pana, Illinois, while his foundation has been involved in agricultural research projects in several US states. The focus is broader than Howard's own farming operation. Conservation, food security and the long-term productivity of farmland have become important themes in his work.It is an unusual professional path for the child of a man whose name became almost synonymous with Wall Street investing. Howard chose the fields.

The billionaire's children will eventually control his charitable fortune

The differences between Warren Buffett's wealth and the way he raised his children are also reflected in his estate plans. Buffett has said that the bulk of his fortune will ultimately go to charitable causes rather than being passed down as a conventional inheritance.

His three children are expected to oversee the charitable trust and will have a limited period in which to decide how the money should be distributed. Howard has previously acknowledged the enormous responsibility involved.

Giving away a fortune, he noted, is not as simple as writing cheques. The challenge is making sure the money is used intelligently and has a meaningful impact. That philosophy is consistent with Warren Buffett's long-running approach to philanthropy. He has donated billions of dollars to charitable causes over the years, including major contributions to the Gates Foundation and foundations established in his family's name.

Howard could still have a role in Berkshire Hathaway's future

Howard's career as a farmer does not mean he has no connection to his father's business empire. His possible future role at Berkshire Hathaway is very different from becoming the company's chief executive. Greg Abel took over as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on January 1, 2026, succeeding Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett remains chairman.

Howard, meanwhile, has long been linked to the possibility of becoming a non-executive chairman in the future. The distinction matters. A non-executive chairman would not be expected to run Berkshire's businesses or oversee its investments on a daily basis. Instead, the role would be centred on helping preserve the culture and values associated with Warren Buffett.

And Howard has made clear that any such responsibility should not necessarily mean giving up the farm. That may be the most revealing part of his story. He was born into one of the world's most famous business families. He had access to opportunities that most people could only imagine. Yet the life he chose was built around farmland, conservation and agriculture.

For much of his childhood, he reportedly did not even know just how wealthy his father was. As an adult, he found out. He still chose the farm.