Inside Billionaire Bronfman's Fifth Ave. Penthouse, Asking $65M

After a month of waiting, the listing for the penthouse that belonged to the late billionaire Edgar Bronfman, Sr. finally went live with just a floorplan, and now we have interior images to go with it (h/t Real Estalker). The sprawling 16-room abode at 960 Fifth Avenue is being sold by the family of Bronfman, former chairman of the Seagram Co. and president of the World Jewish Congress, who died last December. It's listed for a whopping $65 million, and while the massive wraparound terrace elicited some praise when the floorplan was first revealed, the interior images are decidedly less impressive. The decor is dated (unsurprising, since Bronfman lived here for 40 years), but it's easy to see that the co-op's prewar details have been nicely maintained. In addition to the terrace—which is sadly not pictured—the place has four staff rooms, a library, 8.5 bathrooms, and five fireplaces. The floorplan also shows a built-in safe and two cedar walk-in closets.

Homes of Billionaires: Warren Buffett

Homes of Warren Buffett

One of the world’s richest people is known for not being like other billionaires. It’s not just that Warren Buffett has pledged to donate 99 percent of his fortune to charity or that he thinks the rich should be taxed more. It’s evident in his workplace as well.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Omaha world headquarters occupy just one floor of its office building, and Buffett’s personal office doesn’t have a computer, a calculator 

Homes of Billionaires: Warren Buffett
What's it worth?
The home’s value today, estimated on Realtor.com, is $652,619, whereas the Zillow “Zestimate” is $591,000. A neighboring five-bedroom, six-bath, 3,848 square-foot house is on the market for $450,000.

Trulia notes the average list price for Omaha homes comparable to Buffett’s house is $280,162, and the average sale amount for similar recently sold homes is $236,462.

Why not a mansion?

Why hasn’t the billionaire traded up to a more luxurious home over the years?

“I’m happy there. I’d move if I thought I’d be happier someplace else,” he told the BBC’s Evan Davis in “The World’s Greatest Moneymaker.” “How would I improve my life by having 10 houses around the globe? If I wanted to become a superintendent of housing … I could have as a profession, but I don’t want to manage 10 houses and I don’t want somebody else doing it for me and I don’t know why the hell I’d be happier. “

This house does just fine, he says. “I’m warm in the winter, I’m cool in the summer, it’s convenient for me,” he said in the interview. “I couldn’t imagine having a better house.”

In February, Buffett shared further nonmaterialistic sentiments with Charlie Rose. “I have every possession I want. I have a lot of friends who have a lot more possessions. But in some cases, I feel the possessions possess them, rather than the other way around.”