Warren Buffett

Known as the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett is an investment

guru and one of the richest and most respected businessmen in the
world.

QUOTES
You can't make a baby in a month if you get nine women pregnant.
Warren Buffett

Synopsis

Born in Nebraska in 1930, Warren Buffett demonstrated keen business abilities at a

young age. He formed Buffett Partnership Ltd. in 1956, and by 1965 he had
assumed control of Berkshire Hathaway. Overseeing the growth of a conglomerate
with holdings in the media, insurance, energy and food and beverage industries,
Buffett became one of the world's richest men and a celebrated philanthropist.
Early Life

Businessman and investor. Born Warren Edward Buffett on August 30, 1930, in
Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett's father, Howard, worked as stockbroker and served as a
U.S. congressman. His mother, Leila Stahl Buffett, was a homemaker. Buffett was
the second of three children and the only boy.

Buffett demonstrated a knack for financial and business matters early in his
childhood. Friends and acquaintances have said the young boy was a mathematical
prodigy who could add large columns of numbers in his head, a talent he
occasionally demonstrated in his later years.

Warren often visited his father's stockbrokerage shop as a child, and chalked in the
stock prices on the blackboard in the office. At 11 years old he made his first
investment, buying three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. The
stock quickly dropped to only $27, but Buffett held on tenaciously until they
reached $40. He sold his shares at a small profit, but regretted the decision when
Cities Service shot up to nearly $200 a share. He later cited this experience as an
early lesson in patience in investing.

First Entrepreneurial Venture

By the age of 13, Buffett was running his own businesses as a paperboy and selling
his own horseracing tip sheet. That same year, he filed his first tax return, claiming
his bike as a $35 tax deduction.

In 1942, Buffett's father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and his
family moved to Fredricksburg, Virginia, to be closer to the congressman's new
post. Buffett attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., where
he continued plotting new ways to make money. During his high school tenure, he
and a friend purchased a used pinball machine for $25. They installed it in a
barbershop, and within a few months the profits enabled them to buy other
machines. Buffett owned machines in three different locations before he sold the
business for $1,200.
Higher Education and Early Career

Buffett enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16 to study

business. He stayed two years, moved to the University of Nebraska to finish up
his degree, and emerged from college at age 20 with nearly $10,000 from his
childhood businesses.

Influenced by Benjamin Graham's 1949 book, The Intelligent Investor, Buffett

enrolled at Columbia Business School to study under the acclaimed economist and
investor. After earning his master's degree in 1951, he sold securities for Buffett-
Falk & Company for three years, then worked for his mentor for two years as an
analyst at Graham-Newman Corp.

In 1956, Buffet formed the firm Buffett Partnership Ltd. in his hometown of
Omaha. Utilizing the techniques learned from Graham, he was successful in
identifying undervauled companies and became a millionaire. One such enterprise
Buffett valued was a textile company named Berkshire Hathaway. He began
accumulating stock in the early 1960s, and by 1965 he had assumed control of the
company.

Business Empire

Despite the success of Buffett Partnership, its founder dissolved the firm in 1969 to
focus on the development of Berkshire Hathaway. He phased out its textile
manufacturing division, instead expanding the company by buying assets in media
(The Washington Post), insurance (GEICO) and oil (Exxon). Immensely
successful, the "Oracle of Omaha" even managed to spin seemingly poor
investments into gold, most notably with his purchase of scandal-plagued Salomon
Brothers in 1987.

Following Berkshire Hathaway's significant investment in Coca-Cola, Buffett

became director of the company from 1989 until 2006. He has also served as
director of Citigroup Global Markets Holdings, Graham Holdings Company and
The Gillette Company.