Biography Of Warren Buffett
Born | Warren Edward Buffett August 30, 1930 (age 91) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
Education | University of Pennsylvania University of Nebraska–Lincoln (BS) Columbia University (MS) |
Occupation | Businessman investor philanthropist |
Family | Spouse(s) Susan Thompson Thompso (m. 1952; died 2004) Astrid Menks Menk (m. 2006) Children Susan Alice Buffett Howard Graham Buffett Peter Buffett Parent(s) Howard Buffett Leila Stahl Buffett Relatives Howard Warren Buffett (grandson) Doris Buffett (sister) |
Political party | Democratic |
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Introduction
- Warren Buffett, known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” is an American businessman and philanthropist, widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. He has amassed a personal fortune of more than $60 billion by defying prevailing investment trends.
Early Life And Education
After finishing high school and finding success with his side entrepreneurial and investment ventures, Buffett wanted to skip college to go directly into business but was overruled by his father.
Buffett displayed an interest in business and investing at a young age. He was inspired by a book he borrowed from the Omaha public library at age seven, One Thousand Ways to Make $1000.
In one of his first business ventures, Buffett sold chewing gum, Coca-Cola bottles, and weekly magazines door to door. He worked in his grandfather’s grocery store. While still in high school, he made money delivering newspapers, selling golf balls and stamps, and detailing cars, among other means. On his first income tax return in 1944, Buffett took a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route. In 1945, as a high school sophomore, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barbershop. Within months, they owned several machines in three different barber shops across Omaha. They sold the business later in the year for $1,200 to a war veteran.
Buffett’s interest in the stock market and investing dated to schoolboy days he spent in the customers’ lounge of a regional stock brokerage near his father’s own brokerage office. At the age of 11, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself, and three for his sister Doris Buffett.
By the time he finished college, Buffett had accumulated $9,800 in savings.
He earned a Master of Science in economics from Columbia in 1951. After graduating, Buffett attended the New York Institute of Finance.
Career
After graduating from Columbia, he went to work as an investment salesman for his family’s company, Buffett-Falk & Co. He also taught a course on “Investment Principles” at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and purchased a gas station. The gas station failed, but his business acumen had caught the attention of Benjamin Graham, a well-respected businessman and investor, and one of Buffet’s former professors. Buffett left Buffet-Falk & Co. to work as a securities analyst for the Graham-Newman Corp. When Graham retired and shuttered the business, Buffett took the nearly $174,000 (approx. $1.47 million today) he had saved while working for Graham-Newman and started Buffett Partnership Ltd.
That number almost doubled over the course of the next two years, and by 1962, he was a Bonafede millionaire.
It seemed that everything he touched turned to gold. In 1979, his company began trading at $775 and ended the year with shares worth $1310.By the early ’80s, he was worth $620 million and had earned the nickname, the “Oracle of Omaha.”
By 1990, he was a billionaire, with shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, worth $7,175 each.
Wealth
At age 21, Buffett had $20,000 ($199,175.93 today).
He made his first million ($8.1 million today) at 30 years old.
Five years later, at 35, Buffett had a net worth of $7 million ($53.3 million today).
At 39, he had $25 million. At 47, he was worth $67 million.
At 56, Buffett was a billionaire, worth $1.4 billion.
Buffett was worth $17 billion at 66 years. old.
At 72, that had jumped to more than $36 billion. In 2016, Buffett added $12 billion to his already substantial fortune.
99% of Buffett’s net worth was made after he turned 50 years old.
Buffett still lives in the modest five-bedroom house he bought in Omaha, Nebraska in 1956 for $31,500. Today, a house can be had in the same neighborhood for around $2 million.
Film & Television
- Aside from countless television appearances on various news programs, Buffett has appeared in numerous films and TV programs, both documentary, and fiction. Some film and television cameos he has made include Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), The Office (U.S.), All My Children, and Entourage (2015). He has been a guest 10 times on Charlie Rose and was the subject of the HBO documentary feature Becoming Warren Buffett (2017) and the BBC production The World’s Greatest Money Maker (2009).
Popular Quotes By Warren Buffet
“It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price, than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
“Rule No. 1 is never losing money. Rule No. 2 is never forgot Rule No. 1.”
“If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.”
“Price is what you pay, value is what you get.”
“It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price, than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
“Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”
“Never invest in a business you cannot understand.”
“Never depend on a single income. Make an investment to create a second source.”
“I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.”
“Don’t pass up something that’s attractive today because you think you will find something better tomorrow.”
Top 13 Interesting Facts About Warren Buffet
He Bought his first stock at 11.
He earned 99% of his net worth after his 50th birthday.
He still lives in a humble Omaha house he bought in 1956 for $31,500.
He made $53,000 by the age of 16.
In 2013, Buffett earned $37 million a day.
Buffett owns 20 suits but has never paid for any.
Buffett will give an employee $1 million every year for the rest of his or her life if they can guess the NCAA’s sweet 16 teams.
He takes a dozen kids to Dairy Queen every Sunday.
Buffett pledged to donate 85 percent of his Berkshire Hathaway stocks to charitable foundations.
He was awarded the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” by Barack Obama.
His face was on Cherry Coke cans in China.
He’s a fan of Breaking Bad.
He plays the ukulele.
