The Frugal Billionaires

The Frugal Billionaires

Billionaires drive luxurious cars, travel in private jets and travel the world. They spend lots of money behind their life style. And Why not? They are the most wealthiest people around the world so why not spend millions of dollars behind luxurious life style?

But of course, not the all the billionaires love to live a lavish lifestyle and spend millions of dollars behind their luxurious lifestyle. This Article is about those frugal billionaires around the world who spend very less money in comparison to their wealth.

01) Warren Buffet

$57 billion

Country: United States

Despite his billions, America's most admired investor still lives in the same modest Nebraska home he bought in 1958 for $31,500. He also recently traded in his six-year-old Lincoln Town Car for a 2006 Cadillac DTS. The Oracle of Omaha has spent the past month sticking up for the middle class, lamenting that he pays less taxes, as a percentage of income, than all of the other Berkshire Hathaway employees in the company's home office--including the secretaries and receptionists.

02) Ingvar Kamprad & Family

$33 billion

Country: Sweden

Ikea's pennywise founder is famous for being cheap. He flies coach, drives a 1993 Volvo and often dines at lower-tier restaurants. He also reportedly furnishes his home with Ikea's affordable merchandise. Kamprad was recently quoted as saying that the only luxuries he splurges on are the occasional upscale cravat and Swedish fish roe.

03) Jim C. Walton

$16.4 billion

Country: United States

The Wal-Mart scion and member of America's richest family inherited his billions--and spending habits--from his father Sam. Like his billionaire sister Alice, Jim prefers sturdy pickup trucks to flashy, expensive sports cars. He reportedly drives a 15-year-old Dodge Dakota.

04) Azim Premji

$17.1 billion

Country: India

Parsimonious Premji inherited a cooking-oil business from his father and transformed it into technology-services giant Wipro. He drove a Ford Escort for eight years before trading it in for a new Toyota Corolla, but he usually walks to work from his nearby home. Premji often stays at budget hotels when traveling in India. he reportedly wears non-branded suits and flies economy. Paper plates were used at a luncheon in honor of his son Rishad's wedding a few years ago.

05) Frederik Meijer & Family

$2 billion

Country: United States

The reclusive retail tycoon was raised to be a penny-pincher. His father Hendrik was a barber, but switched to supermarkets after the Depression reduced his clientèle, opening Meijer Grocery in 1934, where he kept prices low. The father-and-son duo launched Meijer Thrifty Acres in 1962; the store is believed to be one of the first to offer "one-stop shopping;" it sold food and general merchandise under the same roof. Today, Meijer is known to drive cars with exceptionally high gas mileage. He also wears inexpensive suits bought off the racks of his stores and prefers to stay in budget motels when on the road.

06) Richard Kinder

$2.9 billion

Country: United States

The former Enron president left the firm in 1996, claiming he was uncomfortable with its "asset-light" strategy. He then bought the Enron pipeline business with college friend William Morgan and later acquired more pipe from ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell. This year, Kinder took the pipeline firm private for $22 billion with management and investors; he renamed the firm Knight Inc. He believes in efficiency, flying coach on company business.

07) David Cheriton

$1.4 billion

Country: Canada

The Stanford professor introduced students Sergey Brin and Larry Page to venture capitalists at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; he was rewarded with a large chunk of Google stock. Cheriton prefers to ride his bike, though he also drives a 1993 Honda Accord or a 1986 Volkswagen camper. Lives in the same Palo Alto home he bought in 1981. He flies commercial, and cuts his own hair rather than wasting time and money going to a barber.

08) John Caudwell

$2.2 billion

Country: U.K.

The former auto-repair shop owner and Michelin engineer entered the cellphone business in 1987. Caudwell sold his 85% stake in the Caudwell Group last year. An avid sportsman, he used to bike 14 miles to work. He cuts his own hair because, he says, going to a barber is a waste of time, and buys his clothes at affordable British retailer Marks & Spencer. Eschews three-figure bottles of wine when a two-figure bottle will do just as nicely: "I don't need to spend money to bolster my own esteem."