Tweet

The Oracle of Omaha: Warren Buffett is Born

Article Overview: “I always knew I was going to be rich,” says Buffett. “I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”

The Oracle of Omaha: Warren Buffett is Born

“I always knew I was going to be rich,” says Buffett. “I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”

With an estimated net worth of around $42 billion, Warren Buffett is considered the second wealthiest person in the world. He has used his unique personality and management style to master the art of investment and create an empire, owning a 38% stake in Berkshire Hathaway. In recent years, he has committed himself to giving away 85% of his fortune, primarily to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Whether he is making money or giving it away, Buffett has made a name for himself as one of the most astute entrepreneurs and investors in history.

Born on August 30, 1930, Warren Edward Buffett grew up in Omaha, Nebraska with his two sisters, Doris and Bertie, his mother Leila, and his father, Howard Buffett, who was a stockbroker as well as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. His grandfather owned a local grocery store, where Berkshire Hathaway’s current Vice Chairman Charlie Munger once worked alongside Buffett.

When Buffett was just six years old, he bought six packs of Coca-Cola from his grandfather’s store. They cost him 25 cents but he managed to resell them for five cents a bottle. Buffett had made a profit of five cents but more importantly, the experience had whet his appetite for business. With his newfound passion for profit, Buffett shunned the playground in search of more moneymaking opportunities.

Five years later, when Buffett was 11 years old, he purchased three shares of Cities Service for himself and his sisters at a price of $38 each. The stock quickly dropped to $27 per share and although he was afraid, Warren decided to hold onto his shares. Eventually, the stock rebounded and Warren sold the shares when they reached $40. Despite having been rewarded for his patience, Warren soon found out he had not been patient enough and shares of Cities Service shot up to $200.

Throughout high school, Buffett worked as a newspaper delivery boy and by the time he had graduated in 1947, he had saved over $5,000 from his two routes. He used $1,200 of this money to purchase 40 acres of farmland in Nebraska, which he promptly rented to tenant farmers for a profit. He even deducted his bicycle as a work expense when he filed his first income tax return at the age of 13.

At the urging of his father, Buffett enrolled in the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He had never wanted to go to college and indeed, only lasted two years at Wharton. When he started complaining that he knew more than his professors, Buffett moved back home and transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Here, while working full-time, Buffett managed to graduate in just three years.

After reading Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, Buffett decided to apply to graduate school. He was rejected by Harvard Business School for being “too young” and subsequently applied to Columbia Business School, where he would study under Graham himself. Buffett became the first-ever student in Graham’s security analysis class to receive an A+. In 1951, Buffett received his Master’s degree in economics and went to work as a salesman at his father’s brokerage. After three years, Buffett was hired by Graham’s investment firm but returned to Omaha in 1956 when Graham retired. With education and experience in hand, Buffett decided to set off on his own.

Related Articles
  Lesson #3: Enjoy The Process
  Berkshire Hathaway's 2006 Chairman's Letter
  Investment Whiz Kid: Buffett Amasses a Fortune
  Lesson #4: Make People Your Priority
  Warren Buffett and his Effect on the Stock Market!

Article Tags: berkshire hathaway, bill and melinda gates, bill and melinda gates foundation, charlie munger, cities service, five cents, hathaways, howard buffett, local grocery store, melinda gates foundation, moneymaking opportunities, newfound passion, oracle of omaha, patience warren, republican member, sisters doris, six packs, warren buffett, warren edward buffett, wealthiest person in the world



Related Forum Posts
Re: SEO... - 1: Find the Best Keywords 2: Discover Your Competitors 3: Optimize Your Title 4: Optimize Your META Tags 5: Use Headings 6: Use Title and ALT Attributes 7: Nomenclatures 8: Create a Site Map Page 9: Include a robots.txt File 10: Install a sitemap.xml for Google MySQL/Oracle:
Hi! New to Forum - Hello everyone. I am Trevor Lawrence. I am just now working on my project. I worked on it yesterday, and I got a lot done. But I have a lot still to do. I live in SE Tennesee, USA. It is beautiful country here amid the Appalachian Mountain chain. We are close to the Great Smokey Mountains, with Gatlinburg as its resort village. I have so many hobbies that time doesn't allow me to fully pursue them all. Every day I work on the computer. I love the PSP program, and I am taking several lessons to learn more about the complex tools that it has. I am also learning Oracle 9i. I have made three presentations so far. I love music and easy listening. I write prose, poetry, and didactic writings. I am sure there's a lot of interesting topics and discussions happening on this forum and wanted to check it out. This is about it. Trevor Lawrence
Re: Changing trends - Hey Yinka, Instead of keeping up with new trends, set up "Toll Positions". Toll Positions have stood the test of time and fluctuating economies. Toll Positions are the Warren Buffets of business.
Re: Video Landing Page Review Help - Evan, I watched part of the video. Warren Coughlin obviously is top notch, and does a very professional presentation. The video kept pausing for me, I tried it several times. I don't normally have that problem as I watch videos regularly. Don't know if it's the file size or what. The landing page look at feel seems to be missing something IMO. I'm not really crazy about the headline font. The bold black is a bit hard to read. Maybe a different font and breaking the one long sentence into a headline and subheadline? It would make it more scannable. Just my first impression. How has your response been so far? Cheers, Zac
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Nice read. I feel a few things were left out. At a time in American history it was illegal for a women to do many things. Not only did they need a man to stand up for them, but they needed him to sign bank documents etc.. for the women in question. Not long ago in our history a women did not have a bank account. This was a slap in the face for the woman's husband or father. My state of Oregon is supposedly had a very strong women, a madam, contribute to the establishment of our state. Of course this is seen as a very old business but a business a women were able to run in the back alleys, and as I have read, in the underground here in Oregon. Mileva Mari? was a women in our history that in her own right contributed to America with her mathematics and physics smarts. Born disabled and "homely", her rich parents sent her to many fine schools where she was (it has been said), the only women in these establishments. Since her father did not think she would ever get married seeing how she was, I bet he was a happy camper when Albert Einstein married her. I feel, with no hesitations if it were not for Mileva Mari?, Albert would not be in the history books as he is now. I feel since in the day women were not supposed to have a brain, nor be allowed to publish their own work, that her husband took her work and published it as his own. The Pendleton Roundup , (a huge rodeo here in Oregon), banned women from the rodeo due to "unlady like" behavior around the 1900's. Hence barrel racing took hold as the ONLY women event. In WWII women were the ones who were the welders etc.. women were the ones to take on the jobs of men who were fighting for our country. Once the war was over, women had to relinquish their jobs to the men. One such women was in my sons family, and I got to hear first hand how things were. I like to bring up Emily Dickinson as well, as for women who changed who women are. Women helped establish equal rites here in America. Women along with the black society fought for equal rites. A white women had the same rites as a black person here in America, thus it was only common sense to help with the equal rites movement. Again running into a women who was there. I feel Oprah Winfrey is passing down a history of strong women. Strong women who have always been. She has just stepped it up to modern times. Women rites is not a white nor black issue, it is a women, man issue. Women have done so much for America, sorry to say to find information which gives credit where credit is due when the husband is a big name, or when the establishment is huge, it takes some digging. Women in history have done bigger and better things than the girls of today are taught in schools. Bigger and better then beauty products, or cooking. Women have been, and always will be the back bone of America and American Business.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How Promotional Caps became a Fashion Trend

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Qualities of Leadership Part 1

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.