Where the World’s Richest People Unwind After a Long Day

Warren Buffett epitomizes living modestly in today’s tough economic climate. Despite a $47 billion fortune, the legendary investor — and the world’s third-richest man — lives in the same five-bedroom, gray stucco house he bought in Omaha, Neb.’s Happy Hollow suburb in 1958 for $31,500.

This folksiness is in line with his famous investing philosophy. “If you don’t feel comfortable owning something for 10 years,” he once told a reporter, “then don’t own it for 10 minutes.”

But Buffet, who also professes a love for pub fare like burgers and Cherry Coke, is the exception. Few billionaires are as frugal. Even in these tough times, modesty is a relative term among the superrich.

Computer mogul Michael Dell is a prime example. Dell claims to live simply, yet his Austin, Texas, residence built in 1997 is a 33,000-square-foot manse — a home that locals call “the castle” because of its high walls and tight security that guard the 20-acre estate.

On this side of the Atlantic, Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison built a 23-acre, 10-building, Japanese-inspired imperial villa in Woodside, Calif.

But he didn’t stop there. In recent years Ellison has spent an estimated $200 million more snapping up a dozen commercial and residential properties to create his own compound in the ritzy beachside enclave of Malibu, Calif.

The West Cost is also home to Bill Gates’ 66,000-square-foot compound in Medina, Wash. Visitors to this estate have the option of climbing 84 stairs to get to the ground floor or simply riding the personal elevator.

Some billionaires, such as Star Wars director George Lucas, put their mansions to good use by both living in and working from them. Lucas’ 5,156-acre Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, Calif. houses his personal residence as well as Skywalker Sound, a postproduction outfit that even has its own fire brigade.

Forbes.com Sunday, March 14, 2010