Who is Warren Buffett?

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Who is Warren Buffett?

Warren Edward Buffett (/ˈbʌfɪt/ BUF-it; born August 30, 1930) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who is currently the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Due to his successful investments, Buffett is one of the most famous investors in the world. As of October 2024, his net worth is $147 billion, making him the eighth richest person in the world.

Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of U.S. Congressman and businessman Howard Buffett. He developed an interest in business and investing during his youth. He enrolled at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947, before graduating from the University of Nebraska at the age of 19. He graduated from Columbia Business School, where he based his investment philosophy on the value investing concept pioneered by Benjamin Graham. He joined the New York Institute of Finance to focus on his economics background, and soon began his business career.

He later began engaging in business ventures and investment partnerships, including one with Graham. In 1956, he founded Buffett Partnerships Limited, and his investment firm eventually acquired Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturing company, using his name to form a diversified holding company. Buffett became chairman and majority shareholder in 1970. In 1978, longtime investor and business associate Charlie Munger joined Buffett as vice chairman. Since 1970, Buffett has served as chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest holding companies in the United States and one of the world's leading conglomerates. His enormous wealth from business and investment success has led the world's media to call him the "Oracle" or "Sage of Omaha." He is known for his adherence to the principles of value investing and frugality despite his wealth. Buffett has pledged to give away 99% of his wealth to charity. Mostly through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He co-founded the Giving Pledge with Bill Gates in 2010, in which billionaires pledge to give away at least half of their wealth.

Buffett worked as an investment salesman at his father's firm, Buffett-Falk & Co., from 1951 to 1954; as a securities analyst at Graham-Newman Corp. from 1954 to 1956; as a general partner in several investment partnerships from 1956 to 1969; and as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. since 1970.

By 1962, Buffett had become a millionaire through the success of his partnerships, which had grown to 11 companies and owned more than $7,178,500, of which more than $1,025,000 was Buffett's. Earlier that year, he merged the partnerships into a single entity, Buffett Partnership, Ltd., which would become his primary investment vehicle for the rest of the decade. Buffett invested in and eventually took control of Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturing company. He began buying shares in Berkshire from Seabury Stanton, the owner whom he later ousted. Buffett's partnership began buying shares at $7.60 per share. In 1965, when Buffett's partners began buying Berkshire, they paid $14.86 per share, while the company had working capital of $19 per share, excluding fixed assets (plant and equipment). Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway at a board meeting and named a new chairman, Ken Chase, to run the company. In 1966, Buffett closed the partnership to raise new cash. He later claimed that the textile business was his worst business. He then moved into insurance, and in 1985, the last plant, Berkshire Hathaway's main business, was sold.

In 2007, Buffett's PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Company, dropped six coal-fired power plant proposals. These included the Utah’s Intermountain Power Project Unit 3, Jim Berger Unit 5, and four proposed plants that were previously part of PacifiCorp’s Integrated Resource Plan. The cancellations came after pressure from regulators and civic groups. In a January 2018 interview with CNBC, Buffett said the current craze for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would not end, adding, “When it happens or how it happens or whatever it is, I don’t know,” and later this year calling it “rat poison squared.” But he also said he would not be shorting Bitcoin futures.