Warren Buffett is the world’s most successful investor; many investors follow his investment philosophy and admire his success. Buffett was born on the 30th of August 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska. According to Forbes, he is currently the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of USD101.5 billion. His massively successful investment strategy has led to him gaining the nickname the ‘Oracle of Omaha’.
Many biographies about Buffett detail his fascination with finance from a young age. One of the most frequently reported stories is how he would purchase bottles of Coca-Cola and go around his neighbourhood selling them for a five-cent profit when he was six years old. At eleven years old, Buffett brought his first stocks for him and his sister, Doris. He quickly learnt a lot about the stock market as his stocks went down, and he waited and sold them as soon as he could for a $2 per stock profit; however, shortly after the stock’s price skyrocketed, and he learnt that patience is a good thing when investing.
At his father’s insisting, Buffett enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and later transferred to the University of Nebraska to finish his studies. He then went on to study a Master of Science in Economics at Columbia Business School at Columbia University. He chose Columbia as it gave him the chance to meet his investing idol, Benjamin Graham. Graham was a pioneer in investing and has earned the nickname the “father of investing”. It was under Graham that Buffett started to solidify his investing philosophy.
By the time Buffett graduated college, he had about $107,000, in today’s value, in savings. From college, he went to work in his father’s investment company. During this time, he met Susan Thompson, whom he married in 1952 and had three children with. They were married until she died; however, they lived separately from 1977, although they were still friends and would attend functions as husband and wife.
In 1954, Graham offered Buffett a job at his company; he worked there for two years before founding his own investing partnership in 1956 called Buffett partnership. Ltd. He shut down the partnership in 1969, and in 1970 became the chairman and CEO of his most notable financial endeavour Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company and is the primary source of Buffett’s wealth. In 1988, Buffett made one of his best investing decisions by purchasing shares in Coca-Cola; it has since become one of Berkshire’s best-performing stocks. Berkshire also holds shares in Apple, Bank of America, American Express and Kraft Heinz.
Buffett is well known as a philanthropist, and he has pledged to give away 99% of his wealth when he dies. The majority of his wealth will be given away through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Buffett got his start in finance by working hard, but his intelligent investing caused him to thrive. Because of his smart investing, he is admired as the best investor in the world.