Inside billionaire Warren Buffett’s unconventional open marriage, which allowed him to live with one woman while staying married to another

• Billionaire investor Warren Buffett had an open marriage with his first wife, Susan Thompson, until her death in 2004.
• Thompson left Buffett to pursue a singing career, but they remained amicably married and she gave him permission to date other women.
• Thompson also introduced her husband to Astrid Menks, who became his companion. The trio became close friends and even sent out Christmas cards together.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Warren Buffett started dating his second wife, Astrid Menks, while he was still married to his first wife – and neither of them minded.

The “Oracle of Omaha” spent years in an unconventional marriage until his first wife Susan died in 2004. Family members said the unusual arrangement worked for all those involved. The trio would even send out Christmas cards together – signed Warren, Susan, and Astrid – according to The Daily Mail.

“Unconventional is not a bad thing,” Buffett’s daughter, Susie Buffett, told The New York Times. “More people should have unconventional marriages.”

Here’s a look inside Warren Buffett’s married life.

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Buffett's connection to his first wife goes back long before they were even born.

Source: Business Insider

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Susan's grandfather once ran a campaign for Republican United States Representative Howard Buffett, Warren's grandfather. It apparently didn't go well.

Source: Business Insider

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Their daughter, Susie Buffett, told Business Insider in 2017 that it was "the only time my grandpa Buffett lost."

Source: Business Insider

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Before he met Susan, Buffett busied himself trying to win the heart of a woman named Betty Gallagher in 1949.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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She happened to be dating a ukulele player, so Buffett took up the instrument, too.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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Betty wasn't swayed.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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But Buffett's hobby — which he continues to showcase at parties and meetings — paid off in the long run.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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The next year, Buffett met Susan Thompson.

Source: Hear Nebraska, Washington Post

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She was the roommate of Buffett's sister, Roberta, at Northwestern University.

Source: Hear Nebraska, Washington Post

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Like Betty, she was also already seeing someone else.

Source: Hear Nebraska, Washington Post

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Buffett formed a friendship with her father, Bill, a professor and mandolin player who knew his parents.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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They would jam out together in the Thompson residence, giving Buffett the opportunity to call on Susan.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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He continued to visit the Thompsons, even after he left to go to business school at Columbia University.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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Eventually, Buffett's musical wooing paid off.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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The two were married in 1952.

Source: Hear Nebraska

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The couple had three children together. Susie, the eldest, is a philanthropist. Howard, the middle child, is a businessman and former sheriff of Macon County, Illinois. Peter, the youngest, is a musician.

Source: NBC, Herald and Review

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The couple got along well in many regards, but their relationship was strained by Buffett's intense work ethic, Time reported.

Source: Time

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After Berkshire Hathaway bought a stake in The Washington Post, publisher Katherine Graham and Buffett struck up a flirtatious relationship, with Susan Buffett's permission.

Source: CNBC

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They would reportedly jaunt off to Martha's Vineyard together, and Graham even had a habit of throwing her keys to the investor during charity events and parties. Susan was reportedly furious and began an affair with a tennis instructor.

Source: CNBC

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The Buffetts began living separately in 1977, when Susan left for California to pursue a singing career.

Source: CNBC

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Buffett was reportedly devastated by her departure.

Source: CNBC

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"It was definitely 95% my fault ... I just wasn't attuned enough to her, and she'd always been perfectly attuned to me," Buffett said.

Source: The New York Daily News

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"She kept me together for a lot of years ... It shouldn't have happened," Buffett said.

Source: The New York Daily News

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Buffett's children worried that their father would not be able to get along without their mother.

Source: Business Insider

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"I was concerned about him being able to function in the normal world," Susie Buffett said.

Source: Business Insider

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Then, the following year, Susan introduced her husband to restaurant hostess and Latvian immigrant Astrid Menks.

Source: The New York Times

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They had become friends when Susan began singing at the restaurant. Astrid quickly moved in and became Buffett's companion.

Source: The New York Times

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The three remained close and essentially functioned as a trio.

Source: Time

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"Astrid and my mother were very close — really loved each other," Susie Buffett told The New York Times.

Source: Time

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Buffett would often say, "Susie put me together and Astrid keeps me together."

Source: Time

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After a battle with cancer, Susan passed away from a stroke in 2004. She and Buffett were visiting friends in Cody, Wyoming, at the time.

Source: CNBC, CNN

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Buffett and Astrid got married in a five-person ceremony at Buffett's daughter Susie's house in 2006 on his 76th birthday.

Source: The New York Times

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The wedding was a modest event followed by a reception at upscale seafood chain restaurant Bonefish Grill in Omaha, Nebraska.

Source: The New York Times

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According to his daughter Susie, Buffett had been thinking about marrying Astrid for some time after his first wife's death. "He's been talking about this for a while," she told The New York Times. "It's something he wanted to do."

Source: The New York Times

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"Who you marry, which is the ultimate partnership, is enormously important in determining the happiness in your life and your success and I was lucky in that respect," Buffett once said.

Source: CNBC