Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway talks to members of the media on May 4, 2002, at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The meeting is an annual pilgrimage for many shareholders and the annual event has been described as "the workshop for capitalists."
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2006
New York City, New York, USA
Warren Buffett attends a news conference with Bill and Melinda Gates on June 26, 2006, where Buffett spoke about his financial gift to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in New York City. Buffett ranked as the second-richest man in the world - just behind Bill Gates, said his $31 billion of Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock, will go to the foundation where it will be put to use in work with health and education programs in underprivileged countries.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2006
Israel
American billionaire investor Warren Buffett gives a press conference at the Iscar Metalworking headquarters on September 18, 2006, in the Treffen industrial zone in northern Israel. Buffett, whose company Berkshire Hathaway bought an interest in Iscar Metalworking for USD 4 billion earlier this year, is on a two-day tour of Israel, visiting Iscar's plants and meeting with Israeli political and business leaders.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2006
Israel
American billionaire investor Warren Buffett wears a traditional Druze cap given to him by a Druze man after his press conference at the Iscar Metalworking headquarters on September 18, 2006, in the Treffen industrial zone in northern Israel.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2010
Buffett with Gary Green in 2010.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2010
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Buffett and President Obama in the Oval Office, July 14, 2010.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2010
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, plays the ukulele during a tour of the exhibition floor prior to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S., on Saturday, May 1, 2010.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2010
80 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10023, United States
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett attends the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit at Mandarin Oriental Hotel on October 5, 2010, in Washington, DC.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2010
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, appears in a taped video message to shareholders prior to the start of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S., on Saturday, May 1, 2010.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2011
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Buffett meets with President Barack Obama at the White House in July 2011.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2011
57 E 57th St, New York, NY 10022, USA
Warren Buffett attends the "Too Big To Fail" New York Premiere after-party at the Four Seasons Restaurant on May 16, 2011, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2012
Sun Valley, Idaho, USA
Warren Buffett, chairman, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway arrives for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 10, 2012, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have been invited to attend the conference which begins Tuesday.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
1966
Warren Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2012
6 W 25th St, New York, NY 10010, USA
Jay-Z and Warren Buffett attend the grand re-opening of Jay-Z's 40/40 Club on January 18, 2012, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2013
Washington, DC, USA
Warren Buffett speaks onstage at the FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit on October 16, 2013, in Washington, DC.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2013
70 Lincoln Center Plaza #4, New York, NY 10023, United States
Actor Aaron Paul and Warren Buffett attend The Film Society Of Lincoln Center And AMC Celebration Of "Breaking Bad" Final Episodes at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theatre on July 31, 2013, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2013
Washington, DC, USA
Glenn Close and Warren Buffett perform onstage at FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit on October 15, 2013, in Washington, DC.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2014
Sun Valley, Idaho, USA
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., arrives for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 8, 2014, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen from media, finance, and technology attend the annual week-long conference which is in its 32nd year.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2014
1 Sun Valley Rd, Sun Valley, ID 83353, USA
Warren Buffett (L), chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., chats with other guests at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Resort on July 12, 2014, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2014
1 Sun Valley Rd, Sun Valley, ID 83353, USA
Warren Buffett (L), chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., chats with other guests at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Resort on July 12, 2014, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2015
Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, in an interview on May 5, 2015.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2015
New York City, New York, USA
Warren Buffett (L) and Bill Gates attend the Forbes' 2015 Philanthropy Summit Awards Dinner on June 3, 2015, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2015
New York City, New York, USA
Warren Buffett speaks at the Forbes' 2015 Philanthropy Summit Awards Dinner on June 3, 2015, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019, United States
Warren Buffett attends "Becoming Warren Buffett" World Premiere at The Museum of Modern Art on January 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019, United States
Warren Buffett attends "Becoming Warren Buffett" World Premiere at The Museum of Modern Art on January 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019, United States
Warren Buffett attends "Becoming Warren Buffett" World Premiere at The Museum of Modern Art on January 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019, United States
Warren Buffett attends the "Becoming Warren Buffett" World Premiere at The Museum of Modern Art on January 19, 2017.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY 10011, United States
Philanthropist Warren Buffett speaks during the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY 10011, United States
Warren Buffett attends the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
Philanthropist Warren Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY 10011, United States
Philanthropist Warren Buffett (C) is joined on stage by 24 other philanthropist and influential business people featured on the Forbes list of 100 Greatest Business Minds during the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY 10011, United States
Warren Buffett attends the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY 10011, United States
Philanthropist Warren Buffett speaks during the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017, in New York City.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, United States
Susie Buffett and Warren Buffett arrive at "The Post" Washington, DC Premiere at The Newseum on December 14, 2017, in Washington, DC.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, United States
Susie Buffett and Warren Buffett arrive at "The Post" Washington, DC Premiere at The Newseum on December 14, 2017, in Washington, DC.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2017
4952 Dodge St, Omaha, NE 68132, USA
Alexander Payne and Warren Buffett attend the 'Downsizing' special screening at Dundee Theater on December 15, 2017, in Omaha, United States.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
2018
1 Front St E, Toronto, ON M5E 1B2, Canada
Warren Buffett and Paul Anka attend 2018 Canada's Walk Of Fame Awards held at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on December 1, 2018, in Toronto, Canada.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett with his second wife Astrid Menks
Gallery of Warren Buffett
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Gallery of Warren Buffett
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Warren Buffett.
Gallery of Warren Buffett
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Warren Edward Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett
Gallery of Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett
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Warren Edward Buffett
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Warren Edward Buffett
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Warren Buffett and Bill Gates
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2011
Warren Buffett accepts the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, 2011.
Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway talks to members of the media on May 4, 2002, at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The meeting is an annual pilgrimage for many shareholders and the annual event has been described as "the workshop for capitalists."
Warren Buffett attends a news conference with Bill and Melinda Gates on June 26, 2006, where Buffett spoke about his financial gift to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in New York City. Buffett ranked as the second-richest man in the world - just behind Bill Gates, said his $31 billion of Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock, will go to the foundation where it will be put to use in work with health and education programs in underprivileged countries.
American billionaire investor Warren Buffett gives a press conference at the Iscar Metalworking headquarters on September 18, 2006, in the Treffen industrial zone in northern Israel. Buffett, whose company Berkshire Hathaway bought an interest in Iscar Metalworking for USD 4 billion earlier this year, is on a two-day tour of Israel, visiting Iscar's plants and meeting with Israeli political and business leaders.
American billionaire investor Warren Buffett wears a traditional Druze cap given to him by a Druze man after his press conference at the Iscar Metalworking headquarters on September 18, 2006, in the Treffen industrial zone in northern Israel.
Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, plays the ukulele during a tour of the exhibition floor prior to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S., on Saturday, May 1, 2010.
Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, appears in a taped video message to shareholders prior to the start of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S., on Saturday, May 1, 2010.
Warren Buffett, chairman, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway arrives for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 10, 2012, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have been invited to attend the conference which begins Tuesday.
70 Lincoln Center Plaza #4, New York, NY 10023, United States
Actor Aaron Paul and Warren Buffett attend The Film Society Of Lincoln Center And AMC Celebration Of "Breaking Bad" Final Episodes at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theatre on July 31, 2013, in New York City.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., arrives for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 8, 2014, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen from media, finance, and technology attend the annual week-long conference which is in its 32nd year.
Warren Buffett (L), chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., chats with other guests at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Resort on July 12, 2014, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Warren Buffett (L), chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., chats with other guests at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Resort on July 12, 2014, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY 10011, United States
Philanthropist Warren Buffett (C) is joined on stage by 24 other philanthropist and influential business people featured on the Forbes list of 100 Greatest Business Minds during the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017, in New York City.
Warren Buffett and Paul Anka attend 2018 Canada's Walk Of Fame Awards held at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on December 1, 2018, in Toronto, Canada.
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
(Readers of Warren Buffett's letters to Berkshire Hathaway...)
Readers of Warren Buffett's letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders have gained an enormously valuable informal education in the art of investing. Broad in scope and long on wisdom, Buffett's letters explain his principles on sound investing, selecting managers, valuing businesses, using financial information profitably, and other vital topics for investors.
Warren Buffett is an American businessman, entrepreneur, executive, investor, and business tycoon. Buffett is an investment guru and one of the richest and most respected businessmen in the world. He is the chairman, CEO, and the largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha. Called "The Oracle of Omaha", Buffett rose from a modest beginning to become one of the richest men.
Background
Warren Buffett was born on 30 August 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States. Buffett's father, Howard, worked as a stockbroker and served as a United States congressman. His mother, Leila Stahl Buffett, was a homemaker. The second oldest, he had two sisters and displayed an amazing aptitude for both money and business at a very early age.
In 1942 Buffett's father was elected to the United States House of Representatives and the family moved to Fredricksburg, Virginia.
Education
Warren finished elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947. 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.
At only six years old, Buffett purchased six-packs of Coca-Cola from his grandfather's grocery store for twenty-five cents and resold each of the bottles for a nickel, pocketing a five-cent profit. While other children his age were playing hopscotch and jacks, Warren was making money. Five years later, Buffett took his first step into the world of high finance.
At eleven years old, he purchased three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share for both himself and his older sister, Doris. Shortly after buying the stock, it fell to just over $27 per share. A frightened but resilient Warren held his shares until they rebounded to $40. He promptly sold them - a mistake he would soon come to regret. Cities Service shot up to $200. The experience taught him one of the basic lessons of investing: Patience is a virtue.
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.
His entrepreneurial successes as a youth did not immediately translate into a desire to attend college. His father pressed him to continue his education and urged his son to attend the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Buffett enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16 to study business. Buffett only stayed two years, complaining that he knew more than his professors. He returned home to Omaha and transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Despite working full-time, he managed to graduate in only three years.
Buffett approached graduate studies with the same resistance he displayed a few years earlier. He was finally persuaded to apply to Harvard Business School, which rejected him as "too young." Slighted, Warren then applies feed to Columbia. In 1951 he received his master's degree in economics at Columbia University, where he studied under famed investor Ben Graham and furthered his education at the New York Institute of Finance.
Columbia was a key turning point in Buffett's life, for it was there that he met Benjamin Graham, co-author with David Dodd of the landmark textbook Security Analysis. After Buffett graduated, he worked at his father’s company, Buffett-Falk & Co. from 1951 to 1954 as an investment salesman. According to numerous published reports, he spends about five to six hours each day reading annual reports and trade publications. By the age of 20, he had already amassed savings worth almost $10,000.
Buffett left Omaha and joined Graham's investment firm on Wall Street in 1954. He was appointed at a starting salary of $12,000 a year at Benjamin Graham’s partnership in 1954. His boss was a difficult man to work with and expected strict adherence to conventional rules of investing which Buffett’s young mind questioned. There he was able to view his mentor's work first-hand. By the time he was 25 Buffet made $140, 000. Graham shut down his investment firm in 1956 and Buffett gladly left New York. When he returned to Omaha family members asked him for advice, so Buffett set up an investment partnership. By 1959, Warren had opened a total of seven partnerships and had a 9.5% stake in more than a million dollars of partnership assets. Three years later by the time he was 30, Warren was a millionaire and merged all of his partnerships into a single entity.
While he might have kept investors in the dark about his methods, Buffet's bottom-line returns were crystal clear: over the next 13 years Buffett Partnership Ltd. generated a 29. 5 percent compounded annual return. He raised $105, 000 from investors to start the partnership, and when he closed it 13 years later, the partnership was worth $105 million, and Buffett worth $25 million.
One of the investments along the way was Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturer in Massachusetts. In 1965 he took majority control of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., turning it into his primary investment vehicle. Buffett would create his multibillion-dollar empire around that business, although the textile company itself remains-in Buffett's opinion one of the biggest investment mistakes he made. Sure, Berkshire Hathaway's stock price was cheap, satisfying a requirement of the Graham strategy. But the textile industry as a whole, and the company itself, was weak.
In one of his much-anticipated annual reports, quoted in Fortune magazine, Buffett summed up part of his philosophy in the wake of that mistaken textile purchase. He would shut down the textile mill in the mid-1980.
Buffett ended the lucrative partnership in 1969. He then focused on Berkshire Hathaway, buying up companies under its umbrella, investing "where and when he pleased, " according to the Times. Buffett's holdings, and his strategies, from the late 1960s on are clear. He first bought a series of insurance companies, which are considered excellent sources of cash. People regularly pay insurance premiums; insurance companies usually pay claims on that insurance policies-if they have to pay them at all-years down the line. Therefore, there is usually a great amount of cash on hand for the company owners.
Buffett used that cash to buy a series of businesses, which have remained at the core of his investments. His so-called "Sainted Seven Plus One" are sizeable, profitable companies that, according to the Wall Street Journal, "provide a steady stream of profits and capital to fund the investments that bring him renown".
Among the eight-core businesses are the Buffalo News, World Books, Kirby vacuum cleaners, Fechheimer Brothers uniform company, and See's Candies. According to Money magazine, those businesses alone generated $173 million in cash in 1990, and the New York Times estimated in 1991 that their combined worth was approximately $1.6 billion.
The cash generated by the eight companies is, in turn, invested in other corporations, which comprise the other core chunk of Berkshire Hathaway's holdings. All of the companies in which Buffett invested are businesses he understands, underlining one of Buffett's main rules: "Stick to what you know".
Instead Buffett bought into what the New York Times Magazine called his "permanent holdings": The Washington Post, Geico (an insurance company), Capital Cities/ABC, and Coca Cola. He bought $45 million of Geico stock, which by 1989, according to the New York Times, was worth $1. 4 billion. His $10. 6 million investment in the Washington Post group of publications ballooned to an investment worth $486 million 16 years later.
When he purchased seven percent of Coca Cola for $1 billion in 1988, some said he had bought too high, too late. But Buffett predicted Coke's expansion into foreign markets and thought the company could grow. It did, more than doubling his investment. Investments in the big, brand-name companies is an example of how Buffett's buying strategy has evolved from the teachings of his mentor, Graham.
Buffett became interested in what he called "franchise" businesses or companies that are well-managed, with an established product line, and which are not subject to low-cost competition. His strategy changed because the market changed. The companies that Graham liked-companies trading far below their actual value-are rarer.
Also in 1980, Buffett engaged in a series of transactions that are available only to someone with enormous wealth. He stepped in as a so-called "white knight" to help companies fend off hostile takeovers by other corporations. Following Berkshire Hathaway's significant investment in Coca-Cola, Buffett became director of the company from 1989 until 2006.
Buffett's strategy works like this: a company, such as Gillette, faces a takeover and needs an infusion of cash. Buffett invests in the company's "preferred stock". In the case of Gillette, Buffett invested $600 million in 1989, and in converting the stock two years later, he received 11 percent of the company, which was worth, at the time, $1.05 billion.
In 1991 Buffett stepped in as interim chairman of Solomon Brothers brokerage firm after that it was accused of making false bids at Treasury auctions. Buffett, who had invested $700 million of Berkshire Hathaway cash in Solomon Brothers, was its largest shareholder. He is credited with streamlining the company and, over his six-month tenure as interim chairman, helping to rebuild its reputation after the scandal. But the shareholders are not complaining.
Berkshire Hathaway stock was trading for $12 a share in 1965. As of December 1994, a single share of the investment company was the most expensive traded on the New York Stock Exchange: it cost $19, 900 a share.
Buffett owns over 40 percent of Berkshire Hathaway, which accounts for his $8.3 billion net worth. Incidentally, Buffett does his own taxes.
And in August 1995, Buffett brokered a spectacular deal when his Berkshire Hathaway arranged the $19 billion purchase of Cap Cities/ABC by the Walt Disney Company. While the brokerage already had a $345 million in investments, this one merger raised the value to $2.3 billion. Those not fortunate enough to own Berkshire Hathaway often mimic Buffett's buys.
During the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008, Buffett made a number of deals that, though questioned at the time, proved highly profitable. In September 2008 he invested $5 billion in the United States-based bank holding company Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and the following month Berkshire Hathaway purchased $3 billion in General Electric Company (GE) preferred stock. In November 2009 Buffett announced that Berkshire was buying the railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation for about $26 billion; the investment group already owned approximately 23 percent of the railroad.
Most recently, Warren has partnered up with 3G Capital to merge J.H. Heinz Company and Kraft Foods to create the Kraft Heinz Food Company (KHC). The new company is the third-largest food and beverage company in North America and fifth largest in the world, and boasts annual revenues of $28 billion. In 2017, he bought up a significant stake in Pilot Travel Centers, the owners of the Pilot Flying J chain of truck stops.
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.
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.
(Readers of Warren Buffett's letters to Berkshire Hathaway...)
2001
Religion
Although Buffett was raised as Presbyterian, he doesn’t follow any religion and identifies as an agnostic.
Politics
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.
On December 16, 2015, Buffett endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president. On August 1, 2016, Buffett challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns. On October 10, 2016, after another reference to him in the second 2016 presidential debate, Buffett released his own tax return. He said he had paid $1.85 million in federal income taxes in 2015 on an adjusted gross income of $11.6 million, meaning he had an effective federal income tax rate of around 16 percent.
Views
In June 2006 Buffett announced that he planned to donate more than 80 percent of his wealth to a handful of private charitable foundations. The main recipient was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - created by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife - which focused on issues of world health and education. Gates and Buffett had maintained a close friendship since the early 1990s, and the foundation was slated to receive Buffett’s funds in increments that would eventually raise its assets to an estimated $60 billion. The other organizations receiving donations were those run by Buffett’s three children and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late wife, which focused on women’s reproductive rights and funded college scholarship programs.
He has held up his promise, giving more than $30 billion to the foundation and supporting the philanthropic work of his children. He also uses his status to promote other charity work and quietly gives to groups, such as the Glide Foundation, an anti-poverty charity in San Francisco. Since 2000, Buffett has held an annual fundraiser, auctioning off a charity lunch with him on eBay. In 2019, an anonymous bidder was so eager to sit down with Buffett, they placed a bid of $4.57 million to have lunch with him. The money raised went to Glide, and the winner gets to invite seven friends to lunch with Buffett at Smith and Wollensky steakhouse in New York City. The auction has raised more than $25 million in total.
Buffet also founded The Giving Pledge in 2009 with Bill Gates. The Giving Pledge tasks billionaires to give away at least half of heir wealth to charitable causes. Warren pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes. He has already made preparations for his money when he dies. He intends to set up a philanthropic foundation which, given the 23 percent annual rate of return he has averaged throughout his career, could generate a multibillion-dollar legacy to put the Ford and Rockefeller foundations to shame. He wants the fund's trustees to focus on halting population growth and nuclear proliferation. His three children will not make out that well. Buffett has said he plans to leave them "only" about $5 million apiece.
Quotations:
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
"Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money."
"It is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong."
"You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong."
"We can rise to any challenge, but not if people feel we're in a plutocracy. We have to get serious about shared sacrifice."
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
"Efficiency is required overtime in capitalism. I don't know of any company that has a policy that says 'We're going to have a lot more people than we need'."
"The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us more money and we'll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on."
"I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute."
"Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre."
"You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ."
"We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful."
Personality
Buffett is well-known for his personal frugality; he does not even carry a cell phone, always flies coach when traveling, and prefers to travel by public transport. He is very reserved and does not give frequent interviews, preferring to let his corporate report speak for him. He lives in the same Omaha home he bought in 1958 for $31, 500. The house is a simple five-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom house.
His philosophy-as well as his enormous wealth-allows him to be pickier and choosier. According to the Wall Street Journal, he wears rumpled suits, although very expensive Italian ones, and drinks about five cherry Cokes a day. He loves ice cream and eats a lot of canned potato sticks. For breakfast, Buffett often frequents McDonald's for a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit if the market is up, or an austere two sausage patties if the market is down.
Buffett has retained a seeming simplicity that goes along with his down-home, Midwestern roots. His associates, however, say his hayseed manner disguises a brilliant sophisticate. He shuns New York and Los Angeles, preferring to run his far-flung empire from modest offices in Omaha, Nebraska.
Quotes from others about the person
Barack Obama described Buffett as "not only as one of the world's richest men but also one of the most admired and respected" who had "demonstrated that integrity isn't just a good trait, it is good for business."
Interests
bridge
Politicians
Hillary Clinton
Writers
If by Rudyard Kipling, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher, The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike, Stress Test by Timothy F. Geithner, Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks, The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham
Sport & Clubs
football, Nebraska Cornhuskers
Music & Bands
Frank Sinatra
Connections
Buffett married Susan Buffett (née Thompson) in 1952. They had three children, Susie, Howard, and Peter. They separated in 1977 but remained married until Susan Buffett's death in July 2004. Their daughter, Susie, lives in Omaha, is a national board member of Girls, Inc., and does charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation.
In 2006, on his 76th birthday, Buffett married his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, who was then 60 years old.