Warren Buffett’s retirement routine: YouTube and no business

Warren Buffett has spent the first weeks of his formal retirement doing something few expected from a man who built a trillion-dollar conglomerate: watching 1950s television commercials, Uzbek reality shows, and documentaries about disgraced attorneys on YouTube.

The 96-year-old stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway in September, handing the role to his son Howard after transferring the chief executive title to Greg Abel in January. With an estimated net worth of $143 billion, Buffett could afford any lifestyle imaginable. Instead, his evenings remain rooted in Omaha, centered around a screen and a remarkably eclectic playlist curated with the help of Sharon Osberg, a close friend who frequently joins him for viewing sessions.

Their watchlist spans Glenn Close performances, historical profiles like the documentary on Roy Cohn, vintage advertising clips, and international talent competitions. The selections are entirely divorced from financial markets or corporate strategy.

For a figure historically defined by his aversion to consumer technology, the shift toward digital video platforms marks a quiet but significant personal evolution. Buffett famously resisted smartphones well into his late eighties, clinging to a flip phone despite Berkshire Hathaway amassing one of the world’s largest stakes in Apple. His eventual adoption of an iPhone did not immediately translate into broader digital habits. Now, YouTube serves as his primary evening entertainment, though he avoids algorithmic short-form feeds and business news clips entirely.

This deliberate separation between work hours and personal time predates his departure from Berkshire. Throughout his tenure, Buffett structured his days to protect long stretches of unstructured time. He routinely dedicated up to 80% of his working hours to reading books, newspapers, and corporate filings, operating on the premise that knowledge accumulates identically to compound interest. That philosophy extended beyond financial literacy; it was a framework for how he managed his own attention.

When reading was not enough to clear his mind of business, Buffett turned to contract bridge. At his peak involvement, he played roughly eight hours weekly across four two-hour sessions, often competing against Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. During Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meetings, including the 2015 gathering, the two billionaires were known to set aside corporate presentations for card tables.

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Buffett described the game in a 2017 Washington Post interview as an inexhaustible intellectual exercise, noting that a player could deal a hand every six or seven minutes for the rest of their life without encountering a duplicate arrangement. Bridge offered a cognitive challenge distinct from capital allocation, demanding probability assessment and partnership communication rather than market prediction.

His approach to leisure contrasts sharply with the trajectory of modern corporate executives, many of whom struggle to decouple their identities from their roles after stepping down. Research into post-retirement psychology among former Fortune 500 leaders frequently cites the loss of daily structure as a primary driver of depression. Buffett’s ability to transition smoothly appears linked to decades of practice in compartmentalizing his interests.

That compartmentalization also informs his longstanding advice to younger professionals. While Generation Z workers increasingly prioritize work-life balance over salary — a trend confirmed by a 2025 Randstad workforce report — Buffett achieved his version of balance only after becoming a millionaire at age 32. His guidance, articulated during a 2017 PBS interview, remains focused on intrinsic motivation rather than scheduling: pursue the career you would accept even if financial necessity did not exist.

Berkshire Hathaway continues to operate under its new leadership structure, with Abel managing day-to-day operations and Howard Buffett overseeing governance. The company’s Class A shares remain among the highest-priced equities on the New York Stock Exchange, recently trading above $700,000 per share.