Often called the "Oracle of Omaha," Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. His 2006 annual salary is about $100,000, which is on the low side of senior executive remuneration in other comparable companies, and when he spent $9.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a business jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs. He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, today valued at around $700,000.
Buffett is also a noted philanthropist. In 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, Buffett was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in The World. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College. Grinnell College has the second largest endowment of any liberal arts college in the United States.
Historical TimeLine
1943: (13 years old)
Buffett filed his first income tax return, deducting his bicycle as a work expense for $35.
1945: (15 years old)
In his senior year of high school, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in a barber shop. Within months, they owned three machines in different locations.
1949: (19 years old)
In 1949, he was initiated into Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity while an undergraduate at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. His father and uncles were also Alpha Sigma Phi brothers from the chapter at Nebraska, where Warren eventually transferred.
1950: (20 years old)
Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School after learning that Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, two well-known securities analysts, taught there.
1951: (21 years old)
Buffett discovered Graham was on the Board of GEICO insurance at the time. After taking a train to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday, Buffett knocked on the door of GEICO's headquarters until a janitor allowed him in. There, he met Lorimer Davidson, the Vice President, who was to become a lasting influence on him and life-long friend.
Buffett graduated from Columbia and wanted to work on Wall Street. Buffett offered to work for Graham for free but Graham refused. He purchased a Sinclair gas station as a side investment, but that venture did not work out as well as he had hoped. Meanwhile, he worked as a stockbroker. During that time, Buffett also took a Dale Carnegie public speaking course. Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach a night class at the University of Nebraska, "Investment Principles." The average age of the students he taught was more than twice his own.
1952: (22 years old)
Buffett married Susan Thompson.
1954: (24 years old)
Benjamin Graham offered Buffett a job at his partnership with a starting salary of $12,000 a year. Here, he worked closely with Walter Schloss.
Susan had her first child, Howard Graham Buffett.
1956: (25 years old)
Benjamin Graham retired and folded up his partnership.
Buffett's personal savings are now over $140,000.
Buffett returned home to Omaha and created Buffett Associates, Ltd., an investment partnership.
1957: (27 years old)
Buffett had three partnerships operating the entire year.
Buffett purchased a five-bedroom, stucco house on Farnam Street for $31,500.
Susan was about to have her third child.
1958: (28 years old)
Buffett had five partnerships operating the entire year.
1959: (29 years old)
Buffett had six partnerships operating the entire year.
Buffett was introduced to Charlie Munger.
1960: (30 years old)
Buffett had seven partnerships operating the entire year.
The partnerships were: Buffett Associates, Buffett Fund, Dacee, Emdee, Glenoff, Mo-Buff, and Underwood.
Buffett asks one of his partners, a doctor, to find ten other doctors who will be willing to invest $10,000 each into his partnership. Eventually, eleven doctors agreed to invest.
1961: (31 years old)
Buffett revealed that Sanborn Map Company accounted for 35% of the partnerships' assets.
Buffett explained that in 1958, Sanborn sold at $45 per share when the value of the Sanborn investment portfolio was $65 per share. This meant buyers valued Sanborn at "minus $20" per share, and buyers were unwilling to pay more than 70 cents on the dollar for an investment portfolio with a map business thrown in for nothing.
Buffett reveals that he earned a spot on the board of Sanborn.
1962: (32 years old)
Buffett's partnerships, in January 1962, had in excess of $7,178,500 of which over $1,025,000 belonged to Buffett.
Buffett merges all partnerships into one partnership.
Buffett discovered a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett's partnerships began purchasing shares at $7.60 per share.
1965: (35 years old)
When Buffett's partnerships began aggressively purchasing Berkshire they paid $14.86 per share while the company had working capital (current assets minus liabilities) of $19 per share, this did not include the value of fixed assets (factory and equipment).
Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway at the board meeting and named a new President, Ken Chace, to run the company.
1966: (36 years old)
Buffett closes the partnership to new money.
Buffett wrote in his letter “unless it appears that circumstances have changed (under some conditions added capital would improve results) or unless new partners can bring some asset to the partnership other than simply capital, I intend to admit no additional partners to BPL.”
In a second letter, Buffett announced his first investment in a private business — Hochschild, Kohn, and Co, a privately owned Baltimore department store.
1967: (37 years old)
Berkshire paid out its first and only dividend of 10 cents
1969: (39 years old)
Following his most successful year, Buffett liquidated the partnership and transferred their assets to his partners. Among the assets paid out were shares of Berkshire Hathaway.
1970: (40 years old)
As chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, began writing his now-famous annual letters to shareholders.
1973: (43 years old)
Berkshire began to acquire stock in the Washington Post Company. Buffett became close friends with Katharine Graham, who controlled the company and its flagship newspaper, and became a member of its board of directors.
1974: (44 years old)
The SEC opens a formal investigation into Warren Buffett and one of Berkshire's mergers.
1977: (47 years old)
Berkshire indirectly purchases the Buffalo Evening News for $32.5 million. Anti-trust charges brought.
1979: (49 years old)
Berkshire began to acquire stock in ABC. With the stock trading at $290 per share, Buffett's net worth neared $140 million. However, he lived solely on his salary of $50,000 per year.
Berkshire began the year trading at $775 per share, and ended at $1,310. Buffett's net worth reached $620 million, placing him on the Forbes 400 for the first time.
1988: (58 years old)
Buffett began buying stock in Coca-Cola Company, eventually purchasing up to 7 percent of the company for $1.02 billion. It would turn out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments, and one which he still holds.
1990: (60 years old)
Scandals involving Greenberg and Gutfreund appear.
1999: (69 years old)
Buffett is named the top money manager of the 20th century in a survey by the Carson Group, ahead of Peter Lynch and John Templeton.
2002: (72 years old)
Buffett entered in $11 billion worth of forward contracts to deliver US dollars against other currencies. By April 2006, his total gain on these contracts was over $2 billion.
2004: (73 years old)
His wife, Susan, passes away.
2006: (75 years old)
Buffett announced in June that he would gradually give away 85% of his Berkshire holdings to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, starting in July 2006. The largest contribution will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
2007: (76 Years old)
In a letter to shareholders, Buffett announced that he was looking for a younger successor or perhaps successors to run his investment business. Buffett had previously selected Lou Simpson, who runs investments at Geico, to fill that role. However, Simpson is only six years younger than Buffett.
2008: (77 Years old)
Buffett becomes the richest man in the world according to Forbes.
