Warren Buffett is an American billionaire businessman and investor who through his multinational holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns companies like GEICO, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, and Helzberg Diamonds, among many others. His success in the investor market has earned him the nickname Oracle of Omaha as well as a constant presence on the list of the world’s wealthiest people, going as far as reaching the number one spot on a few occasions.
Join us as we take a look at how he made his money as well as his early beginnings and the other people in his life.
Warren Buffett Biography
Warren Edward Buffett was born as the second of three children to Leila (née Stahl) and Howard Buffett on the 30th of August, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a businessman and investor who later entered into politics and served as a four-term Republican United States Representative for the state of Nebraska.
Buffett attended Rose Hill Elementary School before enrolling at Alice Deal Junior High School. He, however, graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947. At the time, Buffet, who found himself to be very good at math, was said to have already cultivated a huge interest in the business. He ran a couple of businesses that included newspaper delivery and the sales of golf balls, chewing gums, and stamps. He had also bought shares of the company Cities Service at age 11, which all helped him save up to buy a 40-acre farm that was worked by a tenant farmer. With all these achievements, at the time of his graduation, Buffett attempted to shelve college plans to fully launch his business career, however, he was overruled by his father, which meant he had to enroll at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Warren Buffett spent two years at Wharton before transferring to the University of Nebraska where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the age of 19. He subsequently applied to Harvard Business School but was rejected, leaving him to enroll at Columbia Business School where he earned a Master of Science in Economics in 1951. He then went on to attend the New York Institute of Finance before beginning a stockbroking career.
Height
Warren Buffett has a height of 5 feet 10 inches (1.77 m) and weighs 83 kg (183 lbs). In addition, his hair is grey in color and has a pair of brown eyes. There are no tattoos on his body.
How Did He Make His Money?
Warren Buffett made his money through his career as a businessman and investor which started in the 50s when he began working as a stockbroker and founded Buffett Partnerships Ltd. By the early 1960s, Buffett was operating a number of partnerships that had investments in numerous dealings, including the textile manufacturing firm Berkshire Hathaway and the map publishing company, Sanborn Map Company, which made him a millionaire. He later moved to make Berkshire Hathaway his holding company as he delved into other businesses like insurance, manufacturing, construction, retail, and many more.
In 1979, Buffett became worth more than half a billion dollars following the successful shares trading of Berkshire. By 1990, he was able to change status from multi-millionaire to billionaire when his company was again able to sell shares at above $7,000 per share.
Family – Wife, Children
Warren Buffett is in his second marriage. His first marriage was to Susan Buffett (nee Thompson) who he met for the first time through his sister, Roberta, at Northwestern University even though both families had known each other for a while, with Susan’s dad having served as the campaign manager of Howard Buffet.
Warren and Susan exchanged vows at the Dundee Presbyterian Church in Omaha in 1952 and went on to have three children; first, a daughter named Susan who works as a philanthropist and chairs the Sherwood Foundation, formerly known as the Susan A. Buffett Foundation. She was born in July 1953. Their second child was a son named Howard who was born in December 1954. Howard is a former politician, businessman, philanthropist, and farmer. The couple’s last child is a son named Peter who was born in May 1958, he is an Emmy Award-winning musician, composer, author, and philanthropist.
In 1977, Susan and Warren separated. She left her husband to move to San Francisco in hopes of having a singing career, which her husband supported although he was reported to be heartbroken about it. The two never remarried and remained close with each other until her death in 2004. Two years after her passing, Buffett married his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, who Susan had introduced to him before she left and who had also been living with him in his Omaha home for many years.
Warren Buffett’s Net Worth (House and Cars)
According to Forbes, Warren Buffett, as of 2021, had a net worth of $97.7 billion. With such huge earnings, it is no surprise that he has in the last decade given away to a charity close to $30 billion of his wealth.
Also, despite his enormous wealth, Buffett has ensured he does not live an extravagant lifestyle as he never spends more than $3.17 on his McDonald’s breakfast and today still lives in the five-bedroom stucco house he purchased in Omaha in 1958 for $31,500. He also owns a beachfront vacation home in Laguna Beach, California, which he purchased in 1971 for $150,000. The house has since been put up for sale by the investor for a price of about $11 million. Buffett drives a Cadillac XTS which has a retail value of around $45,000.
Social Media: Instagram, Twitter
Warren Buffett is quite active on social media. Warren has many fans following pages but not an officially verified Instagram account. Similarly, he has 1.7million followers on his Twitter account. He had joined Twitter in April 2013.
Warren Buffett’s Some Quotes
- “Rule No. 1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1.“
- “I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.”
- “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.”
- “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”
- “Never depend on a single income. Make an investment to create a second source.”
- “Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value.”
