One of the world’s richest people, Warren Buffett has more money than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than half the world’s countries.

Early Life

Born Warren Edward Buffett on August 30,1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a stockbroker and U.S. Congressman, while his mother a homemaker. Buffett was the middle child of a triumvirate, and was notably a mathematical genius at a very young age. At the age of 11, Buffett made his first investment, purchasing 3 shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. Initially falling in price, the stock would recover and Buffett would make a small profit. Providing him with his first experience in business, Buffett was just getting started on a journey that would make him one of the richest people in the world. (“Bio. True Story”)

 Education

After graduating high school at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., Buffett chose to attend Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania (“Wikipedia”). Before his junior year began, Buffett would transfer to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where he would receive his B.S. in Business Administration. Continuing his education, Buffett would then attend the highly prestigious Columbia University, receiving his M.S. in economics in 1951 (Kennon).

The 1950’s

Having accumulated thousands of dollars before leaving his teenage years, Buffett’s job prospects soared throughout the 1950’s. His first job was as an investment salesman at Buffett-Falk & Co, Omaha, from 1951-1954. For the next 3 years Buffett work in New York at Graham-Newman Corp. as a securities analyst. Finally, he worked as a general partner for Buffett Partnership, Ltd, for the next 15 years. As he always had done, Buffett saved as much as possible during this time. It was not that he was making relatively little – Benjamin Graham offered him his position at Graham-Newman Corp. where he would start at $12,000/year – inflation adjusted to around $105,000 for 2012 (“Wikipedia). With his savings he would start his first partnership, Buffett Partnership, Ltd, in 1956. By the end of the decade there would be 7 partnerships Buffett had a stake in, which would become successful business ventures for him.

As if he did not have enough on his plate, Buffett had maintained a serious relationship with his girlfriend Susan Thompson, who he would marry in 1952. Their family would begin with the birth of their first child, Susan Alice Buffett the next year, followed by two more children during the decade.

Berkshire-Hathaway

Buffett’s capital increased to over $1,000,000 by January, 1962. At this juncture, Buffett decided to merge all of his partnerships into one partnership. His next investment would be into a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire-Hathaway. After purchasing up half of the common stock, Buffett declared himself director of the company. Originally paying $14.86 per share of the company, growth would cause the price to skyrocket. In addition to this, a $0.10 dividend was paid out, a sign of how the company was doing well under new management. Buffett would begin writing financial letters to shareholders. In 1979, shares would increase from $775/share to $1,310/share (“Wikipedia”). Humbly, Buffett would continue to keep his pay at $50,000 – all of his other income would come from outside investments.

Becoming a Billionaire

Buffett became a millionaire, on paper at least, when Berkshire-Hathaway began selling class A shares on May 29, 1990 for $7,175/share (“Wikipedia”). Originally, Buffett was interested in long-term investments in publicly-quoted stock, but now he focuses on purchasing who companies as he sees fit. In fact, Berkshire-Hathway has acquired numerous insurance companies, must notibly GEICO and General Re. Moreover, they hold equity in American Express Co., and Coco-Cola. So, you may ask what happened the catapulted Buffett into one of the richest people in the world? The answer, other than all the other investments he has, lies in the stock price of Berkshire-Hathaway when they sold stock for astronomical prices. At one point, shares of Berkshire-Hathaway reached $150,000, on December 13th, 2007 (“Wikipedia”). The shares would eventually sell for $121,775 in May of the current year. Keeping in mind that Buffett owns over 23% of the economical value of stock, his value rose dramatically.

Philanthropy

The most interested and meaningful part of Buffett is the generosity he bleeds. With so much wealth you would think he would give at least half of his wealth to his children and invest the rest in his foundation, the Buffett Foundation. This is not nearly the case, as Buffett has pledged to give away 83% of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, worth over $30 billion as of 2006. This is the most charitable donation in history, and will go towards a variety of interests including health care, reducing extreme poverty, and improving educational opportunities in America. His children will receive $100,000 each if my memory recalls correctly; I found his quote on why his children will receive this amount interesting. He said, “I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing” (“Wikipedia”).

Extra Information

For a deeper look into his life, BBC published an informative documentary on Buffett which can be viewed here:

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