Billionaire Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett Biography

Considered to be one of the most successful investors in the world, Warren Buffett is a billionaire business magnate and renowned philanthropist, who is as of year 2012 has been crowned as the third richest man in the world by the prestigious Forbes Magazine. With a net worth of $44 billion, Warren Buffett is widely known in the financial sector as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which is a multinational conglomerate holding company. Nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha”, Warren Buffett is highly respected in the business world for his unwavering business ethics and his astounding simplicity, inspite of such a vast fortune. Mr. Buffett is also widely regarded as one of the greatest philanthropists, who stunned the world in the year 2006, when he announced that 83% of his entire fortune will be donated to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Born on August 30, 1930 to U.S Congressman Howard Buffett, Warren Buffett took admission at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania in the year 1947 and later transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, from where he completed his Bachelor of Science in business administration. Shortly after graduation, Warren Buffett enrolled into the Columbia Business School for higher studies, where he earned his Master of Science in economics in the year 1951. Warren Buffett started his career in the year 1954, when he began working for Benjamin Graham with an annual severance package of $12,000. However, in the year 1956,  Graham ended his partnership and retired, thereby providing Buffett with the right opportunity to venture on his own, which he did so by setting up Buffett Partnership Ltd., an Omaha based investment firm, while sporting $174,000 of personal savings.

By the year 1962, Warren Buffett with his numerous ongoing partnerships had entered the elite world of millionaires, where his partnerships presented a net worth of $7.17 million. This led to the investment guru’s decision to invest heavily in the textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway, which he eventually took over. Later on, under Berkshire Hathaway banner, Warren Buffett began buying shares of broadcasting network, ABC, while another entity Capital Cities was further provided assistance by Buffett to acquire ABC for $3.5 billion, resulting in a 25% stake for Warren Buffett in the newly merged Capital Cities/ABC (CapCities/ABC). After subsequent investments and acquisitions, Berkshire Hathaway turned its attention to Coca-Cola Company, where the investment firm began to buy stocks in the year 1988, which eventually led to a 7% stake in the Coca-Cola Company amounting to $1.02 billion. In the month of December last year, Berkshire Hathaway entered the record books for the offering of the most expensive Stock Per Share in the world .            Each of the shares came with a price tag of $190,000 and as per reports the same shares were reported to  reach as high as $250,000 in the past. During the long course of investments and acquisitions, Warren Buffett has amassed quite a significant list of holdings, of which some of the most widely renowned subsidiaries include Nebraska Furniture Mart, Business Wire, Omaha World-Herald, Borsheim’s Fine Jewelry and Benjamin Moore & Co. among many others.

Warren Buffett married Susan Buffet in the year 1952 and later remarried to his long term companion Astrid Menks after the loss of his first wife who passed away in July 2004. Mr. Buffett is blessed with three children Susan Alice Buffett, Howard Graham Buffett and Peter Andrew Buffett. Warren Buffett is known to be an avid bridge player and is said to play the game religiously with his fellow bridge players such as the likes of billionaire Bill Gates. The third richest man in the world spends about 12 hours a week on bridge and in the year 2006, and even organized the Buffet Cup. This tournament featured twelve seasoned bridge players both from the United States and Europe. Warren Buffett is also quite a renowned figure in the U.S politics, as during the 2008  U.S. presidential debate, both John McCain as well as the current U.S President Barack Obama hinted towards Warren Buffett being appointed as the future  Secretary of the Treasury.

Warren Buffett

Current Position: CEO, Berkshire Hathaway

Age 81

Nationality:  United States of America

Source of Wealth: Berkshire Hathaway

Net Worth: $44 Billion

Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science, University of Nebraska Lincoln; Master of Science, Columbia University.

Marital Status: Married

Children: 3

Warren Buffett House

1.  Nebraska House

Price: $31,500

Built in the year 1921 and located in the upper middleclass neighborhood of Happy Hollow in Omaha, Nebraska, the Nebraska House is one of the most iconic residences in the region. Though the house has been designed and developed to denote an average upper middleclass resident, yet the house has as its occupant the third richest man in the world, Warren Buffett. The Nebraska house was purchased by the rich Warren Buffett in the year 1957, at a time when the house carried a price tag of $31,500 and inspite of the billions of dollars’ worth of fortune, the investment mogul still prefers to reside in this modest dwelling. The entire Warren Buffett house is spread across 6234 square feet of land features five bedrooms and two and a half baths. However, the most stunning aspect of this house is that there is absolutely no security guard on the premises nor is the house monitored any sort of surveillance security including cameras.

2.  Laguna Beach Mansion

Price: $1.1 Million

It is a widely known fact that the second richest man in the U.S and the third richest man in the world, Warren Buffett is not exactly a lavish spender when it comes to luxury. However, with a net worth of $44 billion, there are at times when the rich investment tycoon has found some luxury elements to his licking and purchased  One such asset is his Laguna Beach mansion in California that was designed and developed to provide the occupants with the most comfortable and luxurious living experience possible. Mr. Buffett had sold this magnificent house in the year 2005 for $5.45 million, while he had paid $1.1 million for the acquisition of the Laguna Beach mansion in the year 1996. The Laguna Beach house offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, while providing the occupants with a spacious four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Also the luxury houses comes with glass walls, gorgeous balconies and patios that overlook the surrounding ocean. The estate is located in the prestigious Emerald Bay neighborhood and was seen on the real estate listings as early as November 2011, when the luxury mansion was put up for sale with an asking price of $5 million.

Warren Buffett Trivia

It is a well-known fact that the third richest man in the world, Warren Buffett prefers not to spend on lavish luxuries of life that many rich men are so fond of and hence there is hardly any art collection that the rich investor has acquired. However, with all his wealth, Mr. Buffett is quite renowned in the charity circles for his immense interest and contributions to the world of philanthropy. In the month of June last year, Warren Buffett made headlines, when a unique auction led to the raising of $2.63 million, where in the winning bidder achieved a rare one on one luncheon with the billionaire investor. The bidding competition was held on eBay and all the proceeds from the auction were handed over to the Glide Foundation, which is renowned across the globe as an anti-poverty charity organization that has been a personal favorite of Susan Buffett.  The entire auction had come to a logjam when the final bid of $2.35 million was achieved, however, the winning anonymous bidder chose to pay an extra $281,000 and win the grand prize of Warren Buffett luncheon, which was scheduled to take place at  Smith & Wollensky’s steak house in New York.

Warren Buffet Car

The billionaire extraordinaire and the foremost investment guru, Warren Buffett is above all things widely acclaimed to lead the life that of a ‘Simple Man’. This is reflected in his place of residence, the lack of extremely pricey artifacts and collectibles as well as the absence of any sort of a luxury car fleet. Mr. Buffett is known to travel in a Lincoln Town Car that just like his Nebraska home, is a remarkable example of simplicity with only a dash of luxury involved into it. The Lincoln Town Car is a third generation model that as manufactured between the year 1998 and 2011. This gorgeous luxury executive car was developed as a four door sedan and is powered by a 4.6 L Modular SOHC V8 engine that provides 235 bhp of power. On the inside, the Lincoln Town Car features gorgeous wood trims on the dashboard and door panels, along with  a state of the art audio system and climate control.

Warren Buffet Private Jet

For a rich man such as the likes of Warren Buffet who owns numerous subsidiaries and also has stakes in several corporate big hitters, air travel is perhaps the fastest and most efficient way accomplishing his tasks and managing his time. Hence, the billionaire investor purchased a Gulfstream IV private jet that has been one of his most prized possessions. Considered to be one of the most expensive private jets in the world, the fabled Gulfstream IV features immense comfort and provides efficient means of conducting business while on the move. This private aircraft is the preferred choice of numerous celebrities such as the likes of Tom Cruise and is a mark of affluence when it comes to the rich. The Gulfstream IV is powered by twin Rolls-Royce Tay 611-8 engines and was designed as a significant upgrade to its predecessors, the Gulfstream II and Gulfstream III.  The private jet is capable of achieving a maximum service ceiling of 45,000 feet, while sporting a range of 7,820 feet. With its two powerful engines, the Gulfstream IV can easily attain a maximum speed of Mach 0.80.

Though Warren Buffet owns only one private jet, yet his company Berkshire Hathaway has under its wing the world’s largest private jet company in the form of NetJets. This company provides interested customers with fractional ownerships and facilitates the acquisition of private and business jets on a rental basis. NetJets was acquired by Warren Buffett in the year 1998, after being its customer since last three years. The company boasts of a vast fleet of luxury private jets, such as the likes of Gulfstream V, Gulfstream G550 and Hawker 750 etc.

Warren Buffett Charity

Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the U.S and the third richest man in the world has an immense interest in the field of philanthropy. The billionaire investor has stated numerous times that his $44 billion empire will not entirely be inherited by his next of kins, but a majority of it will be donated to various organizations and charities. As per his philanthropy plans, about 83% of his fortune will be handed over to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has for a long time been etching Buffett & Gates partnership in concrete, when it comes to their philanthropic efforts. The Buffet and Gates pledge will include the charitable donations of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the foundation, which as of the year 2006 amounted to $30.7 billion. Considered to be largest charitable donation in the world, this pledge also made Warren Buffett  one of the members of board of directors for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Furthermore, the billionaire also made a pledge to donate $50 million to the Washington based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). This organization was founded in the year 2001 and focuses towards spreading awareness in regards to the extreme risks of the developmet as well as the application of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, while also striving towards non-proliferation of such weapons. Apart from these massive donations, Warren Buffett has also been significantly active in the auction world to raise money for various organizations. In the year 2006, the rich investor raised a significant amount of money by auctioning his 2001 Lincoln Town Car, wherein the proceeds went to Girls, Inc. A number of auctions have also been organized, where the bidders have raised millions of dollars to get a chance of a lifetime to dine with Mr. Buffett. A similar auction event in the year 2008 provide the opportunity to Zhao Danyang, a general manager at Pure Heart China Growth Investment Fund to dine with Warren Buffett. This charity auction raised $2,110,100, which were given to the Glide Foundation. Then in the year 2009, Salida Capital paid $1.68 million for a dining opportunity with Mr. Buffett.

In the year 2010, three of the most well renowned billionaires, Bill Gates Warren Buffett and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that the trio have signed a pledge called, ‘Gates Buffett Giving Pledge’. This particular philanthropy pledge witnessed the three billionaires stating that over the course of years, they will be donating half of their personal wealth to various charitable organizations.

Buffett Rule

In the year 2011, Warren Buffett stunned the U.S political and financial spectrum when he stated that he felt bad about the fact that the rich population of the U.S specifically the billionaires which amount to 1% of Americans paid less Federal taxes  than the rest of the 99% Americans, which is primarily constituted of the middle class. The plan was later proposed by Mr. Buffett to President Barack Obama, where in the wealthy as per the plan are required to higher taxes. The plan calls for the creation of an income bracket, where in those earning in excess of $1 million annually would be eligible for a higher minimum tax rate and will further ensure that these rich and affluent Americans do not end up paying a lower percentage of income in taxes as compared to the percentage paid by average American citizens.

Buffett Books

Beside his corporate acquisitions and an incredible insight into the world of investments, billionaire Warren Buffett is also widely known for his writing that though have mostly been limited to annual company newsletters, has also sometimes filtered through to the world of publishing. Last year, Mr. Buffett collaborated with renowned American scholar Lawrence A. Cunningham to compose a thoroughly informative book entitled. ‘The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America’. The book captures the exciting and fast paced world of investment and bring forth a unique insight into the realm of corporate America. Apart from this self-authored book, Warren Buffett has also been the topic of numerous books and as per a recent report, some 47 books have been published that carry the billionaire’s name in the title itself. Below are mentioned some of the bestselling books written on Warren Buffett.

1.  Buffett, Making of an American Capitalist

Author: Roger Lowenstein

2.  The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Author: Alice Schroeder

3.  Warren Buffett Wealth

Author: Robert P. Miles

4.  Dear Mr. Buffett: what an investor learns 1,269 miles from Wall Street

Author: Janet M. Tavakoli

5.  The Midas Touch: The Strategies That Have Made Warren Buffett ‘America’s Preeminent Investor

Author: John Train

 

Warren Buffet Quotes

1.  “I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”

2.  “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

3.  “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.’

4.  “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”.

5.  “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”