Warren Buffett’s current wife is Astrid Menks, a woman who first entered his life in a most unconventional way. They married in 2006, on his 76th birthday, in a small, unassuming ceremony—no ticker tape, just a quiet "I do." Astrid, a Latvian-born former waitress, was actually introduced to Buffett by his first wife, Susie Buffett.
That’s not a typo. The story is both beautiful and bewildering: Susie, moving to San Francisco to pursue a singing career, asked Astrid to look after Warren. What started as a caregiving arrangement became a lifelong partnership. As one friend famously said, “Warren has a wife for his heart, and a wife for his home.” It sounds scandalous on paper, but those close to them describe it as a deeply loving, functional arrangement.
The Woman Who Left Him—But Never Really Did
Susan “Susie” Thompson Buffett was Warren’s first wife, the daughter of a University of Nebraska dean, and the love that framed his entire emotional life. They married in 1952, back when Warren was a sweaty-palmed, numbers-obsessed nobody. Susie was his social bridge—she gave him warmth, introduced him to people, and even convinced him to buy a house instead of living on hot dogs.
But in 1977, after 25 years of marriage, Susie moved out. She didn’t file for divorce—never did—but she chose to live separately, pursuing her own identity as a civil rights activist and singer. The separation was amicable, even loving. They spoke daily, traveled together, and she remained his closest confidante until her death from oral cancer in 2004. “She put me together,” Buffett once said. “She was my anchor.”
Who was Warren Buffett’s first wife Susan Thompson Buffett? The
