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Warren Buffett and his first wife, Susan Thompson Buffett, remained married after she moved to San Francisco in 1977, although they lived apart for years. Reporting on Alice Schroeder’s authorized biography describes Warren’s affair with Katharine Graham and says Susan gave Graham permission to continue the relationship. But “open marriage” is a characterization—not a label the cited sources establish that Warren and Susan used for their arrangement.
They lived apart but stayed married
Warren Buffett and Susan Thompson married in 1952. In 1977, Susan moved to San Francisco, where she pursued singing and spent time with friends and family. Warren remained in Omaha. Their separation was not a divorce: they continued to talk and spend time together over the years.
A 2004 Washington Post obituary says they had lived apart since 1977, remained friendly and often traveled together. An Associated Press account republished by The Economic Times also describes them as staying in contact and spending time together while living separately. The available reporting does not reduce Susan’s move to one cause; it also describes her own pursuits and ties to friends and family.
TIME’s 2008 account of Schroeder’s biography says the couple lived apart for 27 years, spoke extensively by phone, and that Warren regarded the separation as his biggest mistake. That is a characterization attributed to Warren through the biography, not evidence that the couple had adopted a particular relationship label.
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What the reporting says about Katharine Graham
Schroeder’s biography, as described in a 2008 Washington Post report, recounts a long-running affair between Warren Buffett and Katharine Graham, the former publisher of The Washington Post. The report says Susan sent Graham a letter giving the two permission to continue their relationship.
This intimate account is a detail reported from the biography, not a public statement by Susan in the cited article or a separately established description of the couple’s own terms. It supports saying the arrangement was unconventional; it does not establish that “open marriage” was their chosen name for it.
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Astrid Menks’s place in the story
TIME’s report on the biography says Susan encouraged her friend Astrid Menks to check in on Warren, and that Menks eventually moved in with him. After Susan died in 2004, Warren and Menks married. The Washington Post’s obituary reports that Warren was with Susan at the hospital when she died.
The account is one of continued connection alongside separate homes and relationships, rather than a simple story of a marriage ending when Susan moved away. The sources describe the events and relationships, but do not establish a formal, couple-chosen label for the arrangement.
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How to read the biography’s account
The detailed narrative comes principally from Alice Schroeder’s The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, an authorized biography. The Washington Post’s review describes the book as written with Buffett’s full cooperation, extensive interviews and access. That access makes it an important source for the story, while the reporting still attributes intimate claims to Schroeder’s account rather than independently confirming every detail.
The review quotes Buffett advising Schroeder: “Whenever my version [of events] is different from somebody else’s,” he said, “use the less flattering version.” The review also quotes him saying, “If you knew everybody well, you’d understand it quite well,” about the public arrangement among Warren, Susie and Astrid. These remarks offer context for the biography, but neither independently verifies every episode it recounts.
Susan’s life and work were not limited to her marriage. The Washington Post obituary describes her move and singing, as well as her philanthropy. In a 2003 Omaha World-Herald interview quoted in the obituary, she described qualities she sought in organizations receiving contributions as “who have heart and soul, the ability to organize and also to inspire — a rare combination.”
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