Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, an investor, and a philanthropist. He is the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway inc. which owns more than 60 other companies. Buffett is regarded as a great investor and according to Forbes, he is the third most successful investor in the world after Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
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He is regarded as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ by several media outlets and he serves an inspiration to anyone interested in stock market, investing and all money affairs.
Warren Buffett Education
Warren Buffett, was born on August 30, 1930 to Howard Buffett and Leila Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska as the only son of three children. He attended Rose Hill Elementary school, then Alice Deal High school after he relocated with his family to Washington, D. C and eventually graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947.
For his university education, he attended the Wharton School of the university of Pennsylvania and then moved to University of Nebraska where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the age of 19.
Warren Buffett then furthered his education at the Columbia Business school, Columbia University, where he earned a Master of Science degree in Economics and later proceeded to the Institute of Finance, New York.
At the Columbia Business School, he learnt the fundamentals of value investing from his teacher Benjamin Graham.
Warren Buffett Net worth
According to Forbes ranking in the 2019 billionaires net worth, Warren’s net worth is $82.5B and he is the third richest in the world.
Warren Buffett Business Career
Warren Buffett’s passion for business started at a very tender age. After high school, he wanted to focus on business but was stopped by his father who wanted him to further his study before venturing fully into business.
Buffett visited the New York Stock Exchange and bought his first shares at the age of eleven for himself, and his sister Doris. In fact, history has it that he told his friend that if he was not a millionaire at the age of 30, he would kill himself by jumping off the tallest building in Omaha.
After graduation, in 1951 he worked with some organisation such as Buffer-falk & Co, Graham-Newman Corp, and later started Buffett Partnerships limited in 1956 with some of his personal savings which were about $174,000. Eventually, in 1964, he took over Berkshire Hathaway.
Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett, is the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In 1964, Buffett invested and eventually took over a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway. He was able to take over Berkshire Hathaway by buying shares from Seabury Stanton, the original owner of Berkshire. Warren was very aggressive in purchasing Berkshire’s shares and eventually took over the control of Berkshire Hathaway at a board meeting and named a new President, Ken Chace to oversee the operations of the business.
The textile business which Berkshire was known for did not move as envisaged so, he gradually moved the business into the insurance sector. The last mill which was the core business of Berkshire Hathaway was sold in 1985.
As an astute investor, Warren Buffett continued to acquire shares and stocks in companies with prospects. This helped in increasing his net worth. Berkshire also began to acquire stock in the Washington post company, ABC, Salomon inc., The Coca-Cola company e.t.c. In 1990, Warren Buffett became a billionaire when Berkshire began selling Class A shares, the market closing at $7,175 a share.
Some of the operating subsidiaries the company acquired also include; Acme builds company, Duracell, Gieco, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Benjamin Moore and co., Berkshire Hathaway Assurance, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Boat Us, Borsheim’s Fine Jewelry, Brooks Sports, The Buffalo News e.t.c.
Warren’s Personal Life
Warren got married to Susan Thompson in 1952, and they had three children; Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett. They started living separately in 1977 until Susan’s death in 2004. Buffett, at the age of 76 later married Astrid Menks, his long time companion in 2006.
In 1958, Warren Buffett purchased a five-bedroom stucco house in Omaha for $31.500 where he still lives till today.
He was referred to as a great story teller by the media as evident in his annual letters to shareholders. Buffet is a bridge player and he plays for 12 hours in a week. He loves the Nebraska football team and in 2009, he was given the Honorary Assistant Coach title.
Buffett has great interest for music which was one of the reasons for his marriage to Susan Thompson.
Warren Buffett Personal Investment
Warren Buffett, in an exclusive interview said “I want to give my kids just enough so they would feel that they could do anything but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing”. In order words, his children will not inherit the largest proportion of his wealth.
In 2002 as an Advisor, he pledged $50 million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington.
In 2006, he announced his plan to give away 83% of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And he has already donated more than $3.4B to the foundation.
In 2006, He raised money for the Girls Inc. by actioning his Lincoln Town Car.
In 2007, He raised $650,100 funds for the Glide Foundation through an auctioned Luncheon.
In 2010, He signed the Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge alongside two other Billionaires, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook. They also promised to donate half of their wealth to charity and extended an invitation to other wealthy people to join them.
Warren Buffett has also continued to fund and support the foundations that are owned by members of his family; Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Susan Alice Buffett’s Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Novo Foundation owned by Peter Buffett, then Letters Foundation and Learning by Giving Foundation by his Sister, Doris.
He also made some donations to the democratic campaigns of Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton.
Awards and Recognition
Some of the awards of Warren Buffett includes;
- 2011 Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barrack Obama
- 2008 Richest Person in the world according to Forbes with $62 billion net worth
- 2009 Second Richest in US with $37 billion after donating billions of dollars to charity according to Forbes
- 1999 The top money manager of the 20th century by the Carson Group
- 2007 One of the Times 100 Most Influential in the World
- 2010 Most Influential Global Thinker in the Foreign Policy
- 2018 3rd on The 2018 Forbes 400 with $88.3B Net worth
- 2019 3rd on the list of The Richest People in the World according to Forbes.
Warren Buffett on Public Policies
Warren Buffett endorsed Barrack Obama’s Presidential campaign and attended fundraising for the campaign in Chicago. He was the financial Advisor to the California Republican, Gov. Arnold Schwerzenegger during his 2003 election campaign. In 2016, he challenged Donald Trump to release his tax return and in about two months, Warren released his own tax return.
The 88th year old business magnate described the health care reform system under President Barrack Obama as insufficient to deal with the long list of health cares in the United States.
Buffett referred to government tax on gambling and casinos as an ignorant one.
He saw the United State expansion on trade deficit as a devaluation of US dollar and Asset. Because of the trade deficit, he entered into the foreign currency market in 2001.
He is a strong proponent of stock option expensing on corporate income statements.
Warren also believes that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies may not have a very good ending.
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