A man who has stole millions of hearts through his influential speeches and humor, a man who is known for being a self-made billionaire, a man who is popularly tagged as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ for being a magnanimous investor and a man who actually needs no elaborate introduction- Warren Buffett. He is a legendary investor, businessman and philanthropist of the 20th century and hails from America. Along with the prestigious title of “Oracle of Omaha”, Buffett’s identity also revolves around the fact that he is one of the world’s richest men, one of the world’s most influential people, and one of the world’s most respected businessmen. At 84, Warren Buffett still continues to shine as a businessman, investor and philanthropist. Though he was diagnosed with prostate cancer few years back, that did not deter his ever soaring spirit. Despite being such an influential and towering figure, Warren Buffett has always been admired for his modesty and sensibility – attributes that are rarely found in today’s world and especially in such a noted figure.
Early Life and Education
It was on August 30, 1930, that the world welcomed Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the second of the three children and the only son born to, Howard, his father, who was a stockbroker and a Congressman and Leila Stahl Buffett, his mother, who was a homemaker. Buffett first began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School. The family moved to Washington, D.C.; soon he completed his elementary school, finished schooling at Alice Deal Junior High School and thereafter graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947. Buffett stepped into Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania in 1947, where he studied for two years. At the age of 19, he obtained Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He next attended Columbia Business School where he studied under Benjamin Graham, a well-known investor of his time. He obtained Master of Science in economics from Colombia in 1951. Post his Colombia years; there was no looking back as that set the stage for a life-changing career for Buffett.
Buffett’s Investment Passion
Minting money was Buffett’s childhood passion. At a time when children of his age were busy playing various indoor and outdoor games, Buffett started making money. He went from door to door and sold Coca-Cola, chewing gum, golf balls, magazines, stamps, etc. He also lent a helping hand at his grandfather’s grocery store. He once bought six-pack of Coca-Cola for twenty five cents from the grocery store of his grandfather and went on to resell each for a nickel, making five cent profit in the process. By the time Buffett was 13, he was already running a couple of businesses. He also filed his first tax return in 1944, deducting $35 for the use of his bicycle. When he was in high school, he, along with his friend, purchased a second hand pinball machine for $25 and installed it at a local barber shop. Few months later, they made enough profit to get several such machines installed in different barber shops. The business was later sold for $1, 200. At the age of 11, he went on to obtain three shares of Cities Services Preferred for himself and three other for his sister. Within a short span of time, the share came down to $27, which scared Buffett. He held on to his shares till they bounced back to $40 and immediately sold them. However, this turned out be his biggest regret as Cities Service soon soared up to $200. This incident taught him that patience is the key in the investment world – a lesson that he still holds true. By the time he was 20 years old, he already made a saving of $10,000. He has a phenomenal sense of investment could explicitly be seen from a young age.
Career
Buffett’s dream was crushed as after graduation at Columbia University, Ben Graham refused to hire him. He was further advised by Graham not to work at Wall Street. A disappointed Buffett returned to his hometown and started working at his father’s company, Buffett-Falk & Co. He worked as an investment salesman from 1951 to 1954. However, a change of heart led Graham to invite Buffett to work for him in New York. This paved the way to fulfill a long lost dream. From 1954 to 1956, he worked at Graham-Newman Corp. as a securities analyst. This gave him a chance to implement the investing theories that he had garnered from Graham during his Columbia period. His initial salary was $12,000 a year. In 1956, Graham announced his retirement and terminated his partnership. Buffett had a personal saving of over $174,000. He eventually returned to Omaha and started Buffett Partnership Ltd., an investment partnership.
Buffett becomes a Millionaire
This turned out be a turning point in his career. By then, his personal life was also taking shape. He had a beautiful wife and three children. He also bought a five-bedroom house in Omaha. Starting from three partnerships in 1957, he went on to operate seven partnerships by 1960. It was in 1959 Buffett met Charlie Munger whom he later collaborated with for his future business ventures. In 1962, Buffett, at the age of 30, was already a millionaire owing to his partnerships. His collaboration with Charlie Munger took their business to new heights and sprouted a new investment philosophy. After a span of time, they amalgamated all the partnerships into one and invested in a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett eventually took control of the firm after assertively buying the shares of Berkshire Hathaway. It became a long-term investment the cash of which were used to fund other investments. He later transferred his business from textile to insurance sector selling the last of the core textile mills in 1985. He, however, retained the name. As stated by him, the textile business was his worst trade. Along the way in 1987, Berkshire Hathaway bought 12% stake in Salomon Inc., making it its biggest shareholder. Buffett went on to become its director. A scandal in 1990 prompted the then CEO of Salomon Brothers, John Gutfreund, to resign in 1991, making place for Buffett to become its chairman. In 1988, Buffett began purchasing the Coca-Cola Company stock and went on to purchase about 7% of the company’s stock for a whopping of $1.02 billion. This went on to become what can be termed as Berkshire’s most profitable investments. He still continues to hold it.
Buffett Becomes a Billionaire
Buffett’s career graph kept moving up. He became a paper billionaire post the selling of Class A shares by Berkshire Hathaway on May 29, 1990. The year 2002 saw him make his entry into the US$11 billion worth of forward contracts for his release of U.S. dollars against other currencies. By the end of April 2006, the total profit through these contracts went over US$2 billion.
Donation
A thought that often crosses our mind is: what does a man do with so much wealth? A man like Warren Buffett donates. Buffett stunned the world in 2006 when he announced that he would donate a bulk of his fortune (85%) to five foundations, the largest of which would be contributed to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Personal Life
Buffett got married to Susan Buffett in 1952. They have three children: Howard, Susie and Peter. The couple separated in 1977 though they were not divorced. They remained married till the time of Susan Buffett’s death in July 2004. In 2006, Buffett married his friend Astrid Menks. It was his 76th Birthday, while his friend Astrid was 60 years old. It was in fact Susan who had arranged for a meeting between Buffett and Astrid Menks before she left Buffett. Buffett’s daughter Susie lives in Omaha and is a national board member of Girls Inc. She is also involved in charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation. Buffett was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer on April 11, 2012. He began his two months radiation treatment from July 2012. He completed the 44-day radiation treatment cycle on September 15, 2012, and in his words: “It’s a great day for me and I am so glad to say that’s over”.
Recognition:
In 1999, his name appeared under the top money manager of the 20th century, a survey that is conducted by the Carson Group. In the list of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the world, his name appeared in 2007. President Barack Obama honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. He along with Bill Gates featured in the list of the most influential global thinker in the 2010 Foreign Policy report.
| Full Name | Warren Edward Buffett |
| Born | August 30, 1930 |
| Place of Birth | Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Education | Master of Science in Economics |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway |
| Father | Howard Buffett |
| Mother | Leila Stahl Buffett |
| Spouse | Astrid Menks (m. 2006), Susan Buffett (m. 1952–2004; her death) |
| Children | Howard Graham Buffett, Peter Andrew Buffett and Susan Alice Buffett |
| Schooling | Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1947–1949), Woodrow Wilson High School, University of Pennsylvania |
| College/University | Columbia Business School (1950–1951), University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1950–1950) |
| Net Worth | US$70.9 billion (April 2015) |
| Salary | US$100,000 |
| Recognition | Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the world -2007 Top money manager of the 20th century – 1999 Forbes: Richest Person in the World – 2008 Foreign Policy report : Most influential global thinker-2010 |