The diets of tech execs: From Mark Zuckerberg's 'kill what you eat' phase to Tim Cook's love of Diet Mountain Dew

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Tim Cook, nan CEO of Apple, is simply a large instrumentality of Diet Mountain Dew.

Ironically, Apple's field doesn't banal nan beverage, truthful he hasn't been drinking arsenic galore these days, he told The Wall Street Journal.

Before he cracks unfastened a soda, Cook is known to deed nan gym.

Richard Branson, nan laminitis of Virgin Group, estimates he drinks 20 cups of beverage a day.

"I'm not judge really I'd past without English Breakfast tea," he told nan Daily Mail successful 2016.

Branson starts his day pinch consequence crockery and muesli for breakfast. Occasionally, nan billionaire will eat kipper, a herring-like fish, instead.

Branson lives connected his backstage Caribbean island, Necker Island.

The billionaire fills his days pinch exercise, clip pinch his family, and business meetings, which he prefers to schedule "over lunchtime" to thief "lighten nan mood," he said successful a blog post connected Virgin's website successful 2017.

For dinner, he's said he prefers to clasp group meals "where stories are shared and ideas are born." Branson said he goes to furniture astir 11 p.m. and gets astir six hours of slumber each night.

In December, Branson said he likes to aftermath up astir 6 a.m. to play tennis and prefers to person his individual adjunct type retired his emails.

Amazon cofounder Jeff Bezos has said he likes to return his clip successful nan mornings and eat a patient breakfast.

Earlier this year, Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, said that Bezos makes pancakes each Sunday morning.

"He gets nan Betty Crocker cookbook retired each time, and I'm like, 'OK, you're nan smartest man successful nan world; why don't you person this memorized yet?'" Sanchez told The Wall Street Journal.

The erstwhile news anchor told nan Journal that Bezos is besides "extremely dedicated to his workouts" pinch his individual trainer Wes Okerson.

When he's not having his Sunday pancakes, his meal choices tin get eccentric.

In a 2014 gathering pinch a mini e-commerce institution that Amazon yet acquired, Bezos ordered a meal of Mediterranean octopus pinch potatoes, bacon, greenish ail yogurt, and a poached egg, according to a study from D Magazine.

"You're nan octopus that I'm having for breakfast," Bezos reportedly said. "When I look astatine nan menu, you're nan point I don't understand, nan point I've ne'er had. I must person nan meal octopus."

Investor Mark Cuban said successful 2014 that his meal consists of a cup of java and 2 cookies from a institution called Alyssa's Cookies.

The cookies are precocious successful macromolecule and fiber, and debased successful carbs, according to nan company's website.

Cuban invested successful nan institution successful 2012 aft its cofounder sent him a sample container of nan cookies pinch a missive asking him to put $50,000 successful nan institution for a 25% stake, CNBC reported.

"I don't conscionable eat them, I unrecorded connected them," Cuban says connected his company website. "It is not an exaggeration to opportunity location are days erstwhile I person had them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

His favourite type of cooky is nan Healthy Oatmeal Bite, according to nan company.

Cuban has said his "ultimate meal" is simply a McDonald's crockery pinch immoderate additions.

The "Shark Tank" investor told Men's Journal successful 2017 that he buys 2 salads from McDonald's, puts them successful 1 large bowl, and adds "corn, cottage cheese, relish, and for croutons, immoderate crunchy cereal."

Though successful 2019, Cuban disclosed that he was a vegetarian. Cuban revealed that he had fixed up nutrient during a "Shark Tank" episode successful which he invested $250,000 successful a plant-based nutrient company.

"I'll beryllium connected nan beforehand page of it. I'll beryllium nan poster-child for it. We'll hustle. I don't messiness around," Cuban said.

Microsoft laminitis Bill Gates has said that he loves Diet Coke truthful overmuch that he drinks 3 aliases 4 a day.

"All those cans besides adhd up to thing for illustration 35 pounds of aluminum a year," Gates wrote successful 2014.

Earlier this year, Michelin prima cook Jordi Cruz said that Gates erstwhile reserved his full edifice for 2 days and only ordered a Diet Coke.

Gates' eating habits aren't overmuch amended than different billionaires.

He's said he eats Cocoa Puffs for breakfast. Though his ex-wife Melinda Gates has said successful nan past that he skips nan repast altogether.

He besides apparently loves cheeseburgers. In a Reddit AMA from 2016, Gates responded "Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger" erstwhile he was asked astir his favourite sandwich.

Steve Jobs was known for his idiosyncratic eating habits.

The Apple cofounder would sometimes eat only 1 aliases 2 foods astatine a time, for weeks, according to Walter Isaacson's biography.

At 1 point, his diet was strictly carrots and apples. At different time, he was a "fruitarian" and would only eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains, nan book said.

Jobs told Isaacson he "swore disconnected meat" erstwhile he was a freshman astatine Reed College, and he later gave up grains and milk.

Jobs apparently thought that his vegan fare caused him not to emit immoderate benignant of assemblage odor.

The Apple cofounder believed that arsenic a consequence he didn't request to deterioration deodorant aliases ablution regularly, Isaacson's book said.

Sometimes Jobs would accelerated for respective days astatine a time, which he said would create feelings of euphoria, per nan biography.

In 2003, erstwhile Jobs was diagnosed pinch pancreatic cancer, he tried to heal himself done his diet, eating a batch of juiced consequence and carrots.

Five years later, he reintroduced food and different proteins backmost into his fare aft portion of his pancreas was removed. But by nan clip of his decease successful 2011, nan Apple cofounder was connected a mostly liquid diet. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn't person nan healthiest diet.

"If location was a measurement that I could not eat truthful I could activity more, I would not eat," Musk said successful Ashlee Vance's curriculum vitae "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and nan Quest for a Fantastic Future."

Musk utilized to skip meal — aliases eat a Mars barroom aliases donut to commencement his day.

"I'm trying to trim down connected saccharine stuff, and I should person an omelet and coffee," Musk said successful 2017, according to Entrepreneur.

But he hasn't appeared to curb nan wont much. The billionaire said connected X earlier this twelvemonth that he eats a donut each morning. 

"I'd alternatively eat tasty nutrient and unrecorded a shorter life," Musk told Joe Rogan successful 2020.

Lunch is conscionable arsenic inconsequential a repast arsenic meal is for Musk.

The billionaire said immoderate his adjunct brings him during meetings, he'll "inhale it successful 5 minutes."

Instead, Musk focuses connected dinner, which often takes spot complete business. Musk said successful a 2015 Reddit AMA that his favourite cuisines are French and barbecue. 

Like Gates, Musk besides appears to beryllium a instrumentality of Diet Coke.

Musk posted a photograph connected X successful 2022 of what he said astatine nan clip was his bedside table. The image included 4 cans of caffeine-free Diet Coke.

Musk has expressed his emotion for nan beverage respective times complete nan years. 

In 2007, Inc. said successful a profile of Musk that he was drinking 8 cans a time astatine 1 point.

"I sewage truthful freaking jacked that I earnestly started to consciousness for illustration I was losing my peripheral vision," Musk said, though he added that nan electric-car shaper has since begun offering caffeine-free Diet Coke astatine its offices.

In 2022, he wrote connected X that he doesn't attraction if Diet Coke "lowers my life expectancy."

Zuckerberg wasn't awkward astir sharing nan nutrient he had killed pinch friends and location guests.

He erstwhile hosted Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and treated him to a goat he had killed, Dorsey told Rolling Stone. Dorsey said he remembered that nan goat was served cold, truthful he stuck to crockery for dinner.

But it's not arsenic if Dorsey is known for modular eating practices.

In 2012, nan erstwhile Twitter CEO revealed his regular meal astatine nan clip was 2 hard-boiled eggs pinch soy sauce.

Dorsey has besides dabbled successful mainstream fare fads. He used to beryllium a vegan, but said that excessively overmuch beta-carotene (the orangish pigment recovered successful carrots) caused his tegument to move orange. So by 2013, he'd switched to nan Paleo diet, nan hunter-gathering regimen that forbids eating refined sugars, grains, and processed foods.

Dorsey has besides talked astir fasting.

In 2019, Dorsey said he only eats 1 repast a time — meal — during nan activity week, past fasts nan full weekend, pursuing a fare inclination celebrated successful Silicon Valley astatine nan clip called "intermittent fasting."

The Twitter cofounder said it helps him focus.

By 2020, though, Dorsey said he was eating 7 meals a week — conscionable dinner.

"The first clip I did it, for illustration time three, I felt for illustration I was hallucinating," Dorsey said.

"It was a weird authorities to beryllium in. But arsenic I did it nan adjacent 2 times, it conscionable became truthful evident to maine really overmuch of our days are centered astir meals and really — nan acquisition I had was erstwhile I was fasting for overmuch longer, really clip really slowed down," he said connected a 2019 section of nan podcast "Ben Greenfield Life."

Like Dorsey, biotech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has a fastidious wellness regimen.

Johnson, nan laminitis of Kernel, hopes to rewind nan clock of his assemblage a fewer decades done a programme he started called Project Blueprint.

He takes 2 twelve medicines and supplements successful nan morning, and maintains a vegan fare of soft and coagulated foods. He restricts his regular intake to 1,977 calories a day.

Johnson besides drinks a smoothie arsenic soon arsenic he wakes up called "the greenish giant," which includes compounds for illustration spermidine, creatine, collagen peptides, and cocoa flavanols.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been a vegetarian since he was a child, he said successful a 2018 blog post.

In nan post, he besides noted that he takes methyl B-12, Omega-3, Iron, and Vitamin D-3 arsenic supplements.

Recently, Altman said he besides takes nan glucosuria drug metformin, which has go celebrated pinch biohackers arsenic a measurement to slow aging.

Back successful 2015, Warren Buffett reportedly told Fortune he was "one-quarter Coca-Cola," adding that he drinks 5 12-oz servings a day.

While he usually consumes his first tin pinch "potato stix" he sometimes switches it up pinch crystal cream, Fortune said.

Buffet has jokingly said he eats "like a six-year-old" because actuarial tables opportunity six-year-olds person nan lowest decease rate, Fortune noted. 

Bill Gates, a friend of Buffet's, has observed that his chap billionaire mostly has a fare of McDonald's hamburgers and Oreos, Fortune noted. 

Paige Leskin contributed erstwhile reporting to this story.