Warren Edward Buffett is an American businessman and philanthropist widely regarded as the most successful investor of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, having defied conventional investment trends to amass a personal fortune of more than $100 billion.
Warren Buffett: Profile Summary
Full Name: Warren Edward Buffett
Date of birth: 30th August, 1930
Age: 92 years old
Place of birth: Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Nationality: American
Education: University of Pennsylvania, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (BS), Columbia University (MS).
Profession: Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Investor
Years Active: 1951– present
Spouse(s): Susan Thompson (m.1952, died 2004), Astrid Menks (m.2006)
Children: Susan Alice Buffett, Howard Graham Buffet and Peter Buffet
Parents: Howard Buffett (Father), Leila Stahl Buffet (Mother)
Relative(s): Howard Warren Buffett (Grandson), Doris Buffet (sister)
Net Worth: $110 billion
Warren Buffett: Early Life and Education
Buffett, the only son and second child of Leila and Congressman Howard Buffett, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in August 30th 1930. Rose Hill Elementary School was where he started his studies. Following the relocation of his family to Washington, D.C., where his father was elected to the first of four terms in the US Congress, Warren completed elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School, and graduated from what was then Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947 with the senior yearbook entry “likes math; a future stockbroker.”
Buffett wanted to bypass college and enter the workforce right away after graduating from high school and seeing success with his side business enterprises and investment endeavors, but his father disagreed.
Buffett showed early aptitude for business and investing. One Thousand Ways to Make $1000, a book he checked out of the Omaha Public Library when he was seven, served as his inspiration.
Early in life, Buffett engaged in a lot of entrepreneurial endeavors. Buffett started off by door-to-door selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola, and weekly magazines.
He was employed by the grocery owned by his grandfather. He earned money while still in high school by, among other things, delivering newspapers, selling golf balls and stamps, and polishing vehicles.
Buffett claimed a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his first income tax return in 1944. As a sophomore in high school, Buffett and a friend spent $25 on an old pinball machine, which they installed in the neighborhood barbershop. Within a short period of time, they had several machines at three various barbershops throughout Omaha. Later that year, they paid a veteran of war $1,200 to purchase the company.
Warren Buffett: Career Highlight
Buffett, also referred to as the “Oracle of Omaha,” was the son of Nebraskan U.S. Representative Howard Homan Buffett.
In 1965, Buffett acquired majority ownership of textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway Inc., making it his main investment vehicle. Buffett had moved back to Omaha in 1956.
The major stock indices soared by around 11% yearly from the 1960s through the 1990s, but Berkshire Hathaway’s publicly listed shares increased by nearly 28% annually.
Buffett became one of the richest men in the world thanks to his success with Berkshire Hathaway, but he shunned extravagant spending and opposed laws and taxes that favored the wealthy over the middle and lower classes.
Buffett stated in June 2006 that he intended to contribute more than 80% of his money to philanthropic foundations; in 2020, he increased that percentage to 99%.
The primary beneficiary was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was established by Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and Melinda Gates, who was then his wife. Bill and Buffett had been close friends since the early 1990s.
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which focused on women’s reproductive rights and funded college scholarship programs, as well as the organizations run by Buffett’s three children were among the other organizations that received donations. Susan Thompson Buffett was Buffett’s late wife. The Giving Pledge was established by Buffett and the Gateses in 2010 as a call for other affluent people to donate the bulk of their wealth to charity.
Buffett engaged in a number of transactions during the 2007–2008 subprime mortgage crisis that, despite initial doubts, turned out to be very successful. He contributed $5 billion to the American bank holding corporation Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in September 2008, and the following month Berkshire Hathaway bought $3 billion in preferred stock of General Electric Company (GE).
Buffett revealed in November 2009 that Berkshire was spending around $26 billion to acquire the railroad corporation Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation; the investing firm already owned about 23 percent of the railroad. Additionally, Berkshire Hathaway held large stakes in businesses it did not own, such Coca-Cola and Apple.
Buffett received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
Warren Buffett: Net Worth and Age
Warren Buffett was born on August 30th 1930 and he is currently 92 years old.
He is among the most successful investors in the world, and as of January 2023, his net worth is $110 billion, ranking him as the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.
