warren buffett autobiography

Warren Buffett

Who Is Warren Buffett?

Warren Buffett demonstrated keen business abilities at a young age. He formed Buffett Partnership Ltd. in 1956, and by 1965 he had assumed control of Berkshire Hathaway. Overseeing the growth of a conglomerate with holdings in the media, insurance, energy and food and beverage industries, Buffett became one of the world's richest men and a celebrated philanthropist.

Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett's father, Howard, worked as a stockbroker and served as a U.S. congressman. His mother, Leila Stahl Buffett, was a homemaker. Buffett was the second of three children and the only boy. He demonstrated a knack for financial and business matters early in his childhood: Friends and acquaintances have said the young boy was a mathematical prodigy who could add large columns of numbers in his head, a talent he occasionally demonstrated in his later years.

Buffett often visited his father's stock brokerage shop as a child and chalked in the stock prices on the blackboard in the office. At 11 years old he made his first investment, buying three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. The stock quickly dropped to only $27, but Buffett held on tenaciously until it reached $40. He sold his shares at a small profit but regretted the decision when Cities Service shot up to nearly $200 a share. He later cited this experience as an early lesson in patience in investing.

First Entrepreneurial Venture

By the age of 13, Buffett was running his own businesses as a paperboy and selling his own horseracing tip sheet. That same year, he filed his first tax return, claiming his bike as a $35 tax deduction. In 1942 Buffett's father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and his family moved to Fredricksburg, Virginia, to be closer to the congressman's new post. Buffett attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., where he continued plotting new ways to make money. During his high school tenure, he and a friend purchased a used pinball machine for $25. They installed it in a barbershop, and within a few months, the profits enabled them to buy other machines. Buffett owned machines in three different locations before he sold the business for $1,200.

Buffett enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16 to study business. He stayed two years, moved to the University of Nebraska to finish up his degree, and emerged from college at age 20 with nearly $10,000 from his childhood businesses.

In 1951 he received his master's degree in economics at Columbia University, where he studied under economist Benjamin Graham and furthered his education at the New York Institute of Finance.

Influenced by Graham's 1949 book, The Intelligent Investor , Buffett sold securities for Buffett-Falk & Company for three years, before working for his mentor for two years as an analyst at Graham-Newman Corp.

Berkshire Hathaway

In 1956 Buffet formed the firm Buffett Partnership Ltd. in his hometown of Omaha. Utilizing the techniques learned from Graham, he was successful in identifying undervalued companies and became a millionaire. One such enterprise Buffett valued was a textile company named Berkshire Hathaway. He began accumulating stock in the early 1960s, and by 1965 he had assumed control of the company.

Despite the success of Buffett Partnership, its founder dissolved the firm in 1969 to focus on the development of Berkshire Hathaway. He phased out its textile manufacturing division, instead expanding the company by buying assets in media ( The Washington Post ), insurance (GEICO) and oil (Exxon). Immensely successful, the "Oracle of Omaha" even managed to spin seemingly poor investments into gold, most notably with his purchase of scandal-plagued Salomon Brothers in 1987.

Following Berkshire Hathaway's significant investment in Coca-Cola, Buffett became director of the company from 1989 until 2006. He has also served as director of Citigroup Global Markets Holdings, Graham Holdings Company and The Gillette Company.

Later Activity and Philanthropy

In June 2006 Buffett made an announcement that he would be giving his entire fortune away to charity, committing 85 percent of it to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This donation became the largest act of charitable giving in United States history. In 2010 Buffett and Gates announced they had formed The Giving Pledge campaign to recruit more wealthy individuals for philanthropic causes.

In 2012 Buffett disclosed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He began undergoing radiation treatment in July, and successfully completed his treatment in November.

The health scare did little to slow the octogenarian, who annually ranks near the top of the Forbes world billionaires list. In February 2013 Buffett purchased H. J. Heinz with private equity group 3G Capital for $28 billion. Later additions to the Berkshire Hathaway stable included battery maker Duracell and Kraft Foods Group, which merged with Heinz in 2015 to form the third-largest food and beverage company in North America.

In 2016 Buffett launched Drive2Vote, a website aimed at encouraging people in his Nebraska community to exercise their right to vote, as well as to assist in registering and driving voters to a polling location if they needed a ride.

A vocal supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton , whom he’d endorsed in 2015, Buffett also challenged the Republican nominee, Donald Trump , to meet and share their tax returns. "I will meet him in Omaha or Mar-a-Lago or, he can pick the place, anytime between now and election, he said at an August 1 rally in Omaha. "I'll bring my return, he'll bring his return. We're both under audit. And believe me, nobody's going to stop us from talking about what's on those returns." Trump did not accept the offer, though his refusal to share his returns ultimately did not prevent his election to the presidency in 2016.

In May 2017 Buffett revealed that he had begun selling some of the approximately 81 million shares he owned in IBM stock, noting that he did not value the company as highly as he did six years earlier. Following another sale in the third quarter, his stake in the company dropped to about 37 million shares. On the flip side, he increased his investment in Apple by 3 percent and became Bank of America's largest shareholder by exercising warrants for 700 million shares. Early the following year, he added more Apple shares to make it Berkshire Hathaway's largest common stock investment.

Between 2006 and 2017, Buffett gave away close to $28 billion in charity, according to a report by USA Today .

Healthcare Venture

On January 30, 2018, Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase and Amazon delivered a joint press release in which they announced plans to team up and form a new healthcare company for their U.S. employees.

According to the release, the company would be "free from profit-making incentives and constraints" as it tried to find ways to cut costs and improve the overall process for patients, with an initial focus on technology solutions.

Calling the swelling costs of healthcare a "hungry tapeworm on the American economy," Buffett said, "We share the belief that putting our collective resources behind the country’s best talent can, in time, check the rise in health costs while concurrently enhancing patient satisfaction and outcomes."

In March outlets reported that Berkshire Hathaway's HomeServices of America Inc., the second-largest residential brokerage owner in the U.S., was set to take more steps toward the top spot, held by Realogy's NRT LLC. Buffett said he "barely noticed" when Berkshire Hathaway originally acquired HomeServices, then part of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., back in 2000.

Buffett returned to the news in spring 2020 with the announcement that Berkshire Hathaway had dumped its holdings in the "big four" airlines — Southwest, American, Delta and United — over concerns that the industry would never fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Personal Life

In 2006 Buffett, at age 76, married his longtime companion Astrid Menks.

Buffett was previously married to his first wife Susan Thompson from 1952 until her death in 2004, although the couple separated in the 1970s. He and Susan had three children: Susan, Howard and Peter.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1930
• Birth date: August 30, 1930
• Birth State: Nebraska
• Birth City: Omaha
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Known as the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett is an investment guru and one of the richest and most respected businessmen in the world.
• Business and Industry
• Astrological Sign: Virgo
• University of Pennsylvania
• Woodrow Wilson High School
• University of Nebraska
• Columbia University

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Warren Buffett Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/warren-buffett
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: May 27, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• You can't make a baby in a month if you get nine women pregnant.
• My kids are going to carve out their own place in this world, and they know I'm for them whatever they want to do.
• It's a lot easier to buy things sometimes than it is to sell them.
• Rule number one: Never lose money. Rule number two: Never forget rule number one.
• I made my first investment at age 11. I was wasting my life up until then.
• It is impossible to unsign a contract, so do all your thinking before you sign.
• It's easier to stay out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble.
• You should invest like a Catholic marries—for life.
• Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.
• If calculus or algebra were required to be a great investor, I'd have to go back to delivering newspapers.
• Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
• The dumbest reason in the world to buy a stock is because it's going up.
• Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.
• Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.
• You couldn't advance in a finance department in this country unless you taught that the world was flat.
• After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.
• You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right.
• Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
• I feel great... and my energy level is 100 percent.

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Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett: An Illustrated Biography of the World's Most Successful Investor

ISBN: 978-0-470-82153-4

December 2004

Ayano Morio

"Warren Buffett - The Oracle of Everything. He has been right about the stock market, rotten accounting, CEO greed, and corporate governance. The rest of us are just catching on." —Fortune

"Warren Buffett has turned value investing into an art form, piling up the world's second largest individual fortune and persuading millions to mimic the low-tech, buy-and-hold style of stock picking he practices at Berkshire Hathaway." —Time

"Buffett and Munger are, without doubt, two of the greatest investors and capital allocators of all time, so investors would be well served to study their thinking carefully." —The Motley Fool

"Warren Buffett - Ace stockpicker, and now, an empire-builder." —BusinessWeek

• Business Leaders
• Warren Buffett

Who Is Warren Buffett? How Did He Make His Fortune?

From selling soft drinks to making billions of dollars

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Early Life and Education

Notable accomplishments, how buffett grew berkshire hathaway, wealth and philanthropy.

• Buffett's Investing Strategy

Personal Life

• Warren Buffett FAQs

The Bottom Line

• Who Is Warren Buffett? How Did He Make His Fortune? CURRENT ARTICLE
• Benjamin Graham
• Benjamin Graham's Timeless Investing Principles
• The Intelligent Investor
• Warren Buffett's Investment Strategy
• Be Fearful When Others are Greedy
• Rules That Buffett Lives By
• Buffett on Diversification
• How Does Buffett Choose His Stocks?
• How Warren Buffett Made Berkshire Hathaway a Winner
• Buffett's Best Buys
• Why Did Buffett Invest Heavily in Coca-Cola?
• Why Doesn't Buffett Split Berkshire Hathaway Stock?
• The Best Books on Warren Buffett
• Are You As Frugal As Warren Buffett?
• March Madness Bracket Challenge
• Buffett's Asset Allocation
• Buffett's Biggest Mistakes

Warren Edward Buffett, the legendary value investor , turned an ailing textile mill into a financial engine that powered what would become the world’s most successful holding company .

Known as the " Oracle of Omaha ” for his investment prowess, Buffett has amassed a personal fortune in excess of $130 billion, according to Forbes. He inspires legions of loyal fans to make a yearly trek to Omaha, Neb., for an opportunity to hear him speak at Berkshire’s annual meeting , an event ironically dubbed “Woodstock for Capitalists.”

Key Takeaways

• Warren Buffett started investing at a young age, buying his first stock at age 11 and his first real estate investment at age 14.
• Buffett studied under the legendary value investor Benjamin Graham while pursuing a business degree at Columbia University (Harvard had rejected him).
• Buffett teamed with Charlie Munger to buy the ailing Berkshire Hathaway textile company, later to be used as a vehicle to acquire other businesses and make investments.
• Buffett is a true value investor, buying underpriced but solid companies and holding them for the long term.
• Buffett always has been a philanthropist and has pledged the vast amount of his personal fortune of more than $100 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation upon his death.

Alison Czinkota / Investopedia

Buffett was born to Howard and Leila Buffett on Aug. 30, 1930, in Omaha, Neb. He was the second of three children, and the only boy. His father was a stockbroker and four-term U.S. congressman. Howard Buffett served nonconsecutive terms on the Republican ticket but espoused libertarian views.

Making money was an early interest for Warren, who sold soft drinks and had a paper route. When he was 14 years old, he invested the earnings from these endeavors in 40 acres of land, which he then rented for a profit. At his father's urging he applied to the University of Pennsylvania and was accepted at age 16. Buffett left that university after two years, transferring to the University of Nebraska.

Upon graduation his father once again convinced him of the value of education, encouraging him to pursue a graduate degree. Harvard rejected Buffett, but Columbia University accepted him. Buffett studied under Benjamin Graham , the father of value investing , and his time at Columbia set the stage for a storied career, albeit one with a slow start.

Upon graduation, Graham refused to hire Buffett, even suggesting that he avoid a career on Wall Street . The reason was that Graham himself had been rejected by Wall Street firms, which he believed was because he was Jewish. Thus, Graham made it a policy only to hire Jews for his Wall Street company. Buffett returned to Omaha to work at his father’s brokerage firm. He married Susan Thompson in 1952, and they started a family. After three years Graham had a change of heart and offered Buffett a job in New York.

Unlike his mentor Benjamin Graham, Buffett wanted to look beyond the numbers and focus on a company’s management team and its product’s competitive advantage in the marketplace when considering an investment.

Once in New York, Buffett had the chance to build on the investing theories he had learned from Graham at Columbia. Value investing, according to Graham, involved seeking stocks that were selling at an extraordinary discount to the value of the underlying assets, which he called the “ intrinsic value .” Buffett internalized the concept but had an interest in taking it a step further.

In 1956 he returned to Omaha, launched Buffett Associates, and later purchased a house. In 1962 he was 30 years old and already a millionaire when he joined forces with Charlie Munger , whom he first met in 1959. Their collaboration eventually resulted in the development of an investment philosophy based on Buffett’s idea of looking at value investing as something more than an attempt to wring the last few dollars out of dying businesses.

Along the way the pair purchased Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A ), a dying textile mill. What began as a classic Graham-style value play became a longer-term investment when the business showed some signs of life. Cash flows from the textile business were used to fund other investments. Eventually, the original business was eclipsed by the other holdings . In 1985 Buffett shut down the textile business but continued to use the name, eventually growing Berkshire Hathaway into a multi-billion-dollar holding company.

When Buffet first bought shares in Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, the struggling textile firm was facing low-cost competition that threatened to push it under. Entranced by the stock's low cost compared to its book value and net working capital, he purchased a controlling interest in 1965. Shares were trading around $8 when Buffet bought the stock, rising to almost $20 in the late 1960s, when he became CEO. As of July 2024, shares in Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock trade at more than $620,000.

How did he do it? Buffet used the textile company's profits to buy other companies, including life insurance firm National Indemnity. The useful thing about life insurance companies, Buffett found, is the float: the capital available after premiums have been paid but before claims are paid out. Buffett could use this float to invest further, buying securities and other businesses that could generate more money to be invested in more firms and more shares. He closed his investment partnerships by 1969, offering Berkshire Hathaway shares in lieu of cash, and bought insurance companies as wholly owned subsidiaries under the Berkshire umbrella.

He bought See's Candy in 1972, a purchase that generated more cash flow for investing. He also invested in American Express, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and Apple, among many others, focusing on solid brands and businesses with a secure economic moat. Buffett bought for the long haul, preferring to buy and hold his investments, which tended to terrifically appreciate in value over time. He chooses firms with innovative, shareholder-focused management and high profit margins, seeking solid fundamentals when they're available at a discount.

Buffett closed the last Berkshire Hathaway textile mill in 1985, growing the company steadily as a conglomerate instead. As of July 2024, Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 65 companies outright, with a market cap of more than $896 billion.

What do you do with your money when you are the world’s most successful investor? If you’re Warren Buffett, you give it away. Buffett stunned the world in June 2006 when he announced the donation of the vast majority of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , which focuses on world health concerns, U.S. libraries, and global schools, among other issues. It is one of the world’s largest transparent charities.

Buffett’s donations will come in the form of Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock. His total donation to the Gates Foundation is 10 million shares. It will be given out in 5% increments until Buffett’s death or until the foundation fails to meet the spending stipulation or the stipulation that either Bill or Melinda Gates remains actively involved in the foundation’s activities. Buffett’s 2006 donation was 500,000 shares, valued at approximately $1.5 billion.

In June 2022 the foundation’s CEO, Mark Suzman, sent an email to the employees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The email was also shared on the foundation’s website that Buffett’s contributions since 2006 have totaled more than $36 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported that his 2024 donation of 9,930,357 shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock amounted to $4 billion. Buffett expects stock price appreciation to increase that amount over time.

In 2024, another stock donation of 695,122 shares was evenly divided among three charities run by Buffett's children. An additional 993,035 shares went to a foundation run in honor of his first wife.

While the enormous size of the donation to the Gates Foundation was certainly a big surprise, Buffett’s charitable endeavors are nothing new. He’d been giving money away for 40 years through the Buffett Foundation, eventually renamed the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which has one purpose: It offers college scholarships to low-income students in Nebraska.

Buffett always planned to give the bulk of his wealth to charity but initially insisted that that would occur posthumously. The change of heart is quintessential Buffett—rational, decisive, maverick, and blazing a path all his own. “I know what I want to do, and it makes sense to get going,” he famously said upon making the change.

Buffett's Investing Strategy

Buffett’s investment philosophy is based on the principle of acquiring stock in what he believes are well-managed, undervalued companies. When he makes a purchase, his intention is to hold the securities indefinitely. Coca-Cola, American Express, and Costco all met his criteria and have remained in Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio for many years.

In many cases he purchased the companies outright, continuing to let their management teams handle the day-to-day business. A few of the better-known firms that fit into this category include See’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, the Pampered Chef Ltd., Heinz, and GEICO.

Buffett’s mystique remained intact until technology stocks became popular. As a resolute technophobe, Buffett sat out the incredible run-up in technology stocks during the late 1990s. Sticking to his guns and refusing to invest in companies that didn’t meet his mandate, Buffett earned the scorn of Wall Street experts and was written off by many as a man whose time had passed.

The tech wreck that occurred when the dotcom bubble burst bankrupted many of those experts. Buffett’s profits doubled.

Despite a net worth measured in billions, Warren Buffett is legendarily frugal. He still lives in the five-bedroom house he bought in 1958 for $31,500, drinks Coca-Cola, and dines at local restaurants, where a burger or a steak is his preferred table fare. For years he eschewed the idea of purchasing a corporate jet. When he finally acquired one, he named it the Indefensible—public recognition of his criticism about money spent on jets.

Buffett married Susan Thompson in 1952. They separated in 1977 but remained married until her death in 2004. They had three children, Susie, Howard, and Peter. Thompson introduced her husband to Astrid Menks, a waitress, and Buffett and Menks began living together in 1978. They were married in August 2006.

How Did Warren Buffett Amass His Fortune?

Buffett’s fortune was built by highly researched and timely purchases of undervalued stocks and companies, which he would then hold for the long term. For most of the companies he bought, he let existing management remain in place, as they had obviously done a good enough job to make their company attractive to Buffett in the first place. He has been in stocks for the long haul, holding companies such as Coke and American Express for decades. (He still owns both.)

What Are Some of Buffett’s Pearls of Wisdom?

"If you aren’t willing to hold a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about holding it for 10 minutes," wrote Buffett in 1996 in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. Another famous quote, part of a 2008 opinion piece in the New York Times , is, "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” Indeed, Buffett is well known for his many investing aphorisms, which always come back to the simple rules of value investing.

What Does Warren Buffett Plan to Do With His Fortune?

The simple answer is give it away, which he plans to do by making mega-donations, primarily to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as he has established a great rapport with both of them and shares and respects their philanthropic causes, such as world health and women’s rights. Warren Buffet is legendarily generous in giving to causes he deems worthy, so it is no surprise he would give away the vast majority of his wealth to causes in need of funding.

The future looks to hold an increase in the amount of money that Buffett will continue to give. As he told BBC News in 2006: “I am not an enthusiast of dynastic wealth, particularly when the alternative is six billion people having much poorer hands in life than we have, having a chance to benefit from the money.”

Buffett has made his fortune by relying on the time-tested rules of value investing, meaning finding high-quality companies at fair market valuations. He then holds these investments for the long term, some indefinitely, always allowing the power of compounding to work its magic.

Forbes. " Real Time Billionaires-Warren Buffet ."

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Forbes. " In Pictures: Eight Things You Didn't Know About Warren Buffett ."

Yahoo! Finance. " Warren Buffett Explains Why He Thinks Going to College Isn't for Everybody ."

Alice Schroeder. " The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life ." Chapter 15, The Interview. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009.

Eric J. Weiner. " What Goes Up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as Told by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and Scoundrels Who Made It Happen ," Page 62. Little, Brown, and Company, 2007.

Berkshire Hathaway. " Berkshire – Past, Present and Future ." Pages 24-26.

The Economist. " Damn Right! Behind the Scenes With Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger ."

Berkshire Hathaway. " Berkshire – Past, Present and Future ." Pages 24-25.

Global Financial Data. " Berkshire Before Buffet ."

Yahoo! Finance. " Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (BRK-A) ."

Berkshire Hathaway. " Berkshire – Past, Present and Future ." Pages 24-33.

Knowledge at Wharton. " Buffett: Rock Star of American Capitalism ."

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CNBC. " Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker ."

Berkshire Hathaway. " Berkshire – Past, Present and Future ." Page 25.

Berkshire Hathaway. " Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Subsidiaries ."

Warren E. Buffett. " Letter Addressed to: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Gates III, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; June 26, 2006 ."

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. " Thank You, Warren, for Your Generosity ."

The Wall Street Journal. " Warren Buffett Gives Us a Preview of His Will ."

Berkshire Hathaway. " Press Release: June 28, 2024 ."

The Susan T. Buffett Foundation. " College Scholarships ."

Fortune. " Warren Buffett Gives It Away ." Pages 57-58.

Warren Buffett Archive. " Over Time, Buffett Softens His Stance on Tech Stocks ."

CNBC. " Billionaire Warren Buffett Still Lives in the Same Home He Bought for $31,500 More Than 60 Years Ago ."

Forbes. " Why Warren Buffett Owns A Private Jet ."

The Guardian. " She Was Working as a Waitress in a Cocktail Bar. Then She Met Warren ."

Berkshire Hathaway. " Chairman's Letter - 1996 ."

The New York Times. " Buy American. I Am ."

BBC News. " Buffett Donates $37b to Charity ."

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Warren Buffett: An Illustrated Biography of the World's Most Successful Investor Paperback – Illustrated, December 14, 2004

"Warren Buffett - The Oracle of Everything. He has been right about the stock market, rotten accounting, CEO greed, and corporate governance. The rest of us are just catching on." ―Fortune

"Warren Buffett has turned value investing into an art form, piling up the world's second largest individual fortune and persuading millions to mimic the low-tech, buy-and-hold style of stock picking he practices at Berkshire Hathaway." ―Time

"Buffett and Munger are, without doubt, two of the greatest investors and capital allocators of all time, so investors would be well served to study their thinking carefully." ―The Motley Fool

"Warren Buffett - Ace stockpicker, and now, an empire-builder." ―BusinessWeek

• Print length 120 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Wiley
• Publication date December 14, 2004
• Dimensions 5.95 x 0.5 x 8.35 inches
• ISBN-10 0470821531
• ISBN-13 978-0470821534
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

From the inside flap.

This is an entertaining and readable book that will be welcomed by both Buffett fans and the novice investor.

From the Back Cover

WARREN BUFFETT

Warren Buffett has made a name for himself as the most successful investor of the twentieth century. CNN

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (December 14, 2004)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 120 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0470821531
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470821534
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.95 x 0.5 x 8.35 inches
• #3,485 in Biographies of Business & Industrial Professionals
• #3,518 in Rich & Famous Biographies
• #8,463 in Investing (Books)

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Ayano morio.

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Warren Buffett: A Biography

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ABOUT THE BOOK If you picture the life and home of one of the world's richest, most powerful men with fifteen bedrooms and a room devoted to swimming in gold (a la Scrooge McDuck) you’ll be shocked with self-made billionaire Warren Buffett. The 81-year-old man lives a modest life in same the three-bedroom home he bought in Dundee, Nebraska in 1958 with his late wife Susan. Never one for extravagance, Buffett always preferred a low key life, both at home and at work, and earlier in his life, at school. His high school year book photo was captioned “likes math, future stock broker” and couldn't have been a better predictor. After college and apprenticeships, Buffett became an investment icon. His flagship investment, Berkshire Hathaway, has become an industry leader for how to choose stocks that have longevity, similar to Buffett himself. Buffett has made significant contributions to the way investments were made on Wall Street by deciding early on to look at the company structure and not just the balance sheets. His unique perspective and insight has earned him the much deserved title “Oracal of Omaha.” Buffett has always been a philanthropist. In college he belonged to the fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi, like his father before him, whose core mission is, “Silence, purity, charity, honor, and patriotism.” During the 1980s, Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, devised a plan to allow shareholders to allocate funds to their particular charities. Although immensely popular, the program came to a halt after members of a subsidiary, The Pampered Chef, felt they were discriminated against because of the donations Buffett made to pro-choice groups. In 2006 Buffett shocked the world when he announced that he would be leaving the majority of his vast fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and not to his family members. Buffett, Gates, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, infamously signed the “Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge” that stated each pledged at least half of their earnings to charities. Also in 2006, Buffet became enraged when his youngest son's adopted daughter, Nicole, appeared in a documentary called “The One Percent,” about growing up in households with money, produced by heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune, Jamie Johnson. He wrote the 28 year-old Nicole and said, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin,” effectively removing her from his family unit. Buffett, however, is not free of controversy in his business life either. His first bump with regulators was in 1973 over the perceived notion that he and long time business partner Charlie Munger caused a takeover failure of Wesco Financial. The Security Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated the stock buy up of Wesco shares by the firm Blue Chip, which Buffett owned a majority stake in, and determined that they had sufficient evidence to bring charges of stock price manipulation. Blue Chip neither denied nor confirmed the allegations but settled for $115,000 which was paid out to Wesco shareholders who might have been slighted by their actions. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Buffett was born on August 30, 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska to Howard and Lelia Buffett. He was the couple’s middle child and only son. Howard Buffett was the son of grocery store owners, but after he was unable to get a job in the family business, he started his own brokerage firm. While Howard ran his investment business he also served on the Omaha Board of Education for four years and then ran for the US House of Representatives. He was elected and relocated the family to Washington, DC. There, Warren attended public schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High in 1947, five years later. He was only seventeen years old.

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