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Buffett, a famously frugal rich guy, found the concept so compelling that first he got rid of Berkshire's jet, the Indefensible, and then he bought Executive Jet. It's one of the few luxuries he can justify. "I sleep in a bed, you sleep in a bed; I go to McDonald's, you go to McDonald's," he told TIME. "For most things in life, being rich just isn't that much of an advantage. The one area where money has made a difference for me is the ability to travel efficiently and do things that would otherwise be impossible."
Like a couple of months ago, when he flew on a Gulfstream IV-SP to London, had lunch in Frankfurt and dinner near Paris (presumably not at McDonald's), then returned to Boston for a board meeting of Gillette, another major Berkshire holding--all within three days. Says Buffett, fractional-jet salesman: "Difficult to do that flying commercial." Aunt Katie would agree.