Get All Access for $5/mo

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Celebrate 25 Years of Billionaire Bromance Two of the world's richest businessmen are ringing in their silver anniversary today. Their friendship wasn't always 'Oreos for breakfast' and heart-to-heart calls. The mogul mates got off to an 'awkward start.'

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Getty Images | Bloomberg

When it comes to making new friends, sometimes mother really does know best. Such was the case with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

Gates didn't want to meet Buffett at first, but his persistent mom, Mary, eventually wore him down and convinced him to. "I'm a technology nerd," the Microsoft co-founder reflects on his blog. "[Buffett's] an investor who doesn't use email. In fact, I never expected to be friends with him."

The power duo's billionaire bromance kicked off 25 years ago today. On that fateful day, July 5, 1991, Gates was determined to spend "no more than two hours" with Buffett. But then the "Oracle of Omaha" fired off a flurry of clever questions, one after the other, that no one had ever asked Gates before. "We were suddenly lost in conversation and hours and hours slipped by," Gates recalls in a touching blog post commemorating the anniversary today.

Related: The Top 25 Self-Made Billionaires In the World

They laughed, they related, they bonded, and an "unexpected friendship" was born. "It was a deep friendship from our very first conversation," Gates writes.

Despite their differing styles (Buffett likes Oreos for breakfast and Gates prefers Cocoa Puffs), the mega moguls were soon thick as thieves. They eagerly swapped book recommendations, battled it out at bridge and stitched up starring roles in each other's sweeping spheres of influence. Sure enough, Buffett is a Gates Foundation trustee and Gates sits on the board of Berkshire Hathaway, because of course they do. That's what friends are for.

Certain connections have their benefits, especially ones of this caliber. After all, billionaire BFFs stick together like birds of a feather.

To celebrate their friendship's silver anniversary, Gates and Buffett created a photo album and virtual reality video together. No worries if you don't have a VR headset. You can still watch the clip from a web browser, just as you would any video. Check it out here. Sorry, bub, you might never see your bestie the same.
Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at Los Angeles CityBeat, a news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has also written for Government Technology magazine, LA Yoga magazine, the Lowell Sun newspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at @Lashandrow. You can also follow her on Facebook here

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Side Hustle

'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Paris Emily Nicholson and Saskia Teje Jenkins had a 2020 brainstorm session that led to a lucrative business.

Business News

Meta Makes $1 Million Dollar Donation to Donald Trump's Inaugural Fund

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly gave Trump a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Business News

'I'm Not Trying to Land on Mars': Mark Cuban Takes Dig at Elon Musk to Explain Why His Online Pharmacy Isn't Trying to Make More Money

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. is an online pharmacy co-founded by Cuban and radiologist Alex Oshmyansky.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

'It's Not About You': How to Fire Someone Effectively, According to Kevin O'Leary

O'Leary says that if you can't fire someone, you aren't the right leader for the organization.

Starting a Business

They Bought an Ice Cream Truck Off eBay for $5,000. Now Their Company Has 70 Shops and Sells Treats in Over 12,000 Stores.

For the episode of "The Founder CEO," the co-founder and CEO of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream explains how one ice cream truck grew into a successful nationwide brand.