No, Warren Buffett didn’t buy a Greek island — not for 15 million euros or any other price. Numerous Greek and European news publications picked up a story from an Italian real estate agency claiming that the third riches man in the world had purchased St. Thomas island in the Saronic Gulf.
The story spread like wildfire until Buffett himself out it out.
“Until the reports started coming out, I had never heard of the guy who is making the claims about the Greek Island,” Buffett said in an email to The Omaha World-Herald on Tuesday. “It is a total fabrication.”
“He won’t even buy a new house,” his daughter, Susie Buffett, told newspaper, referring to Buffett’s insistence on living in his modest house in Omaha that he purchased for $30,000 in the 1950s.
Still, the alleged partner insisted the sale was real, claiming to have legal documents to prove it.
“[The] Proto Organization confirms the sale to Warren Buffet,” a company spokesperson said in an email to Newsweek, claiming they had documents proving that the sale took place. They declined to share the documents with Newsweek. “We understand the sensitive time politically and economically, but we can not allow this situation… We are not afraid to face Warren Buffett,” they added.
On Wednesday, after the company gave conflicting accounts to the media, Newsweek received an email from the same address, claiming to be Alessandro Proto himself, admitting that the story had been fabricated and saying that the company’s claims had been a “sociological experiment”, orchestrated by him. Proto predicted a meeting between himself and Buffett, and an economic bounce for Greece as a result of his actions.
