Warren Buffett has drawn the same $100,000 salary from Berkshire Hathaway for over 40 years — one of the lowest CEO salaries of any major company. His wealth is his stock, not his pay.

Not every CEO is overpaid: the lowest reported package in our CEO$ database is Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, at just $405,111 in fiscal 2024.

Warren Buffett bought his first stock at age 11 — three shares of Cities Service preferred — and later called it a lesson in patience after he sold too early and watched it soar.

Warren Buffett still lives in the Omaha house he bought in 1958 for $31,500 — the same frugality behind his $100,000 CEO salary, unchanged for decades, which keeps nearly all of his wealth inside Berkshire stock rather than paid out to him.