At 96, billionaire Warren Buffett still eats like a 6-year-old and hasn’t drunk water in 48 years—here is what he drinks instead.

The 96-year-old investor has previously revealed that he drinks five servings of Coca-Cola daily and eats like a six-year-old.

His unusual food preferences include hamburgers, hot dogs, McDonald’s breakfasts, French fries and ice cream.

A famous saying goes thus: “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water,” but billionaire investor Warren Buffett seems to defy the saying, as he hasn’t had water in 48 years. 

The 96-year-old Oracle of Omaha says he has gone 48 years without drinking water and prefers Cherry Coke and other sugary treats.

This is no new knowledge, but it became a trending topic when his fellow billionaire investor Bill Ackman recalled an unusual dinner conversation with Buffett during an appearance on the Equity Mates Investing podcast.

Ackman said he had invited Buffett to his home for dinner and, knowing his guest’s preference, had stocked up on Cherry Coke.

However, when they sat down to eat, Ackman offered Buffett a choice between still and sparkling water. Buffett declined both options.

READ NEXT: Elon Musk becomes the world’s first trillionaire — But who was the first millionaires and billionaires?

Curious, Ackman asked whether he drank water at all.

“Bill, I haven’t had water in 48 years,” Buffett reportedly replied.

As mentioned above, Buffett’s fondness for sugary drinks is hardly a secret. He has spoken openly about his unusual eating habits, including his daily Coca-Cola consumption and love of fast food.

Warren Buffett has spoken openly about his love for Coca-Cola, Cherry Coke and fast food. In fact, his love for Cherry Coke goes back decades. In his 1985 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, dated March 4, 1986, the billionaire announced that he was switching to Cherry Coke after 48 years of loyalty to another soft drink.

“After 48 years of allegiance to another soft drink, your Chairman, in an unprecedented display of behavioural flexibility, has converted to the new Cherry Coke,” he wrote.

Screenshot of Berkshire Hathaway's original 1985 letter, dated March 4, 1986. He added that Cherry Coke would henceforth become the official drink of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting. The “another soft drink” mentioned in the letter is assumed to be Pepsi.

One of Howard’s childhood friends told CNBC that Buffett’s son Howard used to call him “Pepsi Warren”.

In a 2015 interview with Fortune, Buffett revealed that he consumed at least five 12-ounce servings of Coca-Cola daily.

“I’m one-quarter Coca-Cola,” he said, explaining that if he consumed 2,700 calories a day, approximately 25% came from the drink.

He typically drank three Cokes during the day and two at night, preferring regular Coke at his office and Cherry Coke at home.

Beyond drinking the beverage, Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, is one of Coca-Cola’s biggest shareholders.

Berkshire began buying Coca-Cola shares in 1988, investing approximately $1.3 billion to build a stake of around 9% in the company. That investment was valued at approximately $28 billion at the end of December 2025.

READ NEXT: 10 benefits of drinking warm water on an empty stomach every morning

Warren Buffett has spoken openly about his love for Coca-Cola, Cherry Coke and fast food. Buffett’s unusual habits extend to his food choices.

In the same interview, he described his eating preferences as similar to those of a six-year-old, with hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream and fries among his favourites.

“I checked the actuarial tables, and the lowest death rate is among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a six-year-old,” he joked.

Some of his reported food preferences include:

McDonald’s: He is known for stopping for McDonald’s breakfast on his way to work.

Hot dogs and hamburgers: Among his favourite foods.

Ice cream: He has previously joked about eating large quantities.

Cookies and sweets: He has openly discussed his fondness for sugary treats.

His food preferences are so well known that, during a 1995 trip to China with Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda, hotel chefs reportedly learnt to prepare hamburgers and fries for him.

While Buffett’s unusual diet may be entertaining to some, it could give a medical doctor or nutritionist quite a headache, particularly considering his age.

His reported consumption of five Coca-Cola servings daily alone would amount to approximately 195g of sugar if he drank regular Coke. That is almost five times the World Health Organisation’s recommended upper limit of 50g of free sugars daily for someone consuming 2,000 calories.

Frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. 

READ NEXT: Eating Dinner After This Time Could Raise Your Risk of Diabetes, Study Finds

At 96, Buffett’s reported eating habits raise interesting questions about nutrition and ageing, although there is no basis to conclude that he has diabetes or any other condition.