Billionaire Heiress Lives Modestly to Embrace Stewardship, Not Luxury

Mitzi Perdue, the 84-year-old heiress to the $12.2 billion Sheraton Hotels empire and the $10 billion Perdue Farms chicken business, lives a life starkly at odds with her immense wealth. Despite inheriting fortunes from two of America's most iconic family enterprises, Perdue still rides the subway, flies economy class, and resides in a modest one-bedroom apartment in Salisbury, Md., where she shares the building with several Perdue Farms employees, according to a Fortune profile. Her frugal habits—wearing hand-me-downs, repairing shoes instead of buying new ones, and forgoing designer labels—reflect a deliberate philosophy rooted in her upbringing and a belief in "stewardship" over self-indulgence.

Perdue's dual inheritances began in the 1960s when, at age 26, she and her siblings took control of the Sheraton Hotels company after their father's death. Her fortune expanded further in the 1970s when she married Frank Perdue, the "chicken king" who transformed Perdue Farms into the nation's largest poultry producer. Yet rather than retreat into a life of leisure, she chose to work, first managing agricultural research land near the University of California, Davis, and later pivoting to journalism. Her career has focused on covering farming practices and mental health, with recent efforts including selling her $1.2 million engagement ring to fund humanitarian aid in Ukraine and developing an AI trauma therapist for war victims, according to the same Fortune profile.

Her lifestyle choices are not mere affectations. Perdue's apartment, she notes, costs the same in a year as her New York City friends pay in one month. She insists her one-bedroom flat—where she has lived for decades—"is very solidly middle-class" and allows her to "understand the real world." This ethos extends to her travel habits: she flies economy on all work trips, even as her companies could afford first-class upgrades. "If you're always going on private jets, what inkling do you have about the real world?" she told Fortune.

Perdue's approach to wealth is shaped by her family's values. Both the Henderson and Perdue families discouraged extravagance, and she credits this upbringing for her ability to resist the trappings of billionaire status. "The families that last learn stewardship," she said. "They're not there to go spend it all. They're there to be stewards for the next generation." Her philosophy emphasizes giving over taking: she argues that happiness comes from serving others, not from owning mega-yachts or silk pajamas, a point she has made in interviews cited by Fortune.

Her frugality is not without controversy. Critics might question why a billionaire would choose such a modest life, but Perdue sees it as a moral imperative. "I'd sure rather have a life of a feast of unending joy versus not being able to count five happy days," she said. Her legacy, she hopes, will be one of humility and purpose—a far cry from the opulent stereotypes often associated with her wealth.