Warren Buffett

Warren Edward Buffett

Date of Birth: 30.08.1930

Warren Edward Buffett is an American investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist. He is one of the most successful and wealthiest investors. As of March 2017, he is the second richest person in the United States and the fourth richest in the world, with a net worth of $73.3 billion.

Known as the 'Oracle of Omaha', 'The Seer', 'Wizard of Omaha'. The greatest philanthropist in the history of mankind.

Place of Birth. Education. Warren Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was the second of three children of politician and businessman Howard Buffett and his wife Leila Shields. Buffett's first school was Rose Hill Elementary School in Omaha. In 1942, after his father won the election to the U.S. Congress and the family moved to Washington, Buffett finished Alice Deal Junior High School and Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947.

First Entrepreneurial Projects. Buffett showed interest in business and investing from a young age. His first ventures included selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola bottles, and weekly magazines. He worked at his grandfather's grocery store. At the age of 13, Buffett filed his first tax return, stating that he paid for the costs of a bicycle and a watch as their purchase was related to his work as a newspaper delivery boy.

When he was 11 years old, Buffett first invested in the stock market. He and his sister Doris bought three preferred shares of Cities Service at $38.25 each. Initially, the price dropped to $27, and then increased to $40, and Buffett sold them, making a profit of $5 (after commission). It's worth noting that a few days later, the price of the shares rose to $202. Had Buffett waited, he might have made about $500. This first experience taught Buffett that an investor should be patient and not panic when prices fall; not sell for short-term profit; believe in success when investing other people's money (after the price drop, he felt guilty as he was risking his sister's money).

In 1945, when Buffett was a high school student, he and a friend spent $25 to buy a used pinball machine, which they placed in a local barbershop. For several months, they had several machines in three different barbershops in Omaha. The business was sold at the end of the year for $1,200 to a war veteran.

In 1947, Buffett began studying at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He believed it was better to focus on his business projects but, under pressure from his father, went to college. Warren studied there for two years and joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. He then transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which he graduated from at age 19 with a bachelor's degree in business management.

Buffett then began studies at Columbia Business School at Columbia University, where he learned that investor Benjamin Graham taught classes. He earned a master's degree in economics. According to Buffett, it was Graham who introduced him to the fundamentals of sensible investing using fundamental analysis. Warren Buffett adheres to a strategy of long-term investing - the average holding period for shares is 10 years.

Investment Career. In 1965, Buffett bought a controlling stake in the textile company Berkshire Hathaway, which became his main investment firm for years. He is the largest shareholder and CEO of this firm. Shares of his company Berkshire Hathaway are the most expensive – $249.4 thousand per share.

In 1976, Buffett bought National Indemnity Co., and then GEICO, spending $8.6 million and $17 million on their acquisition, respectively. During the stock market crash of 1973, he bought shares of 'The Washington Post' for $11 million.

On December 14, 2004, Bill Gates joined the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway as an independent director, establishing an official friendship with Buffett.

In 2009, he bought the railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion.

In 2011, he invested in a technology company for the first time, buying 5.5% of IBM stock for $10.7 billion.

On July 16, 2015, Warren Buffett and Italian billionaire Alessandro Proto bought the Greek island of Saint Thomas with an area of 1.2 km² in the Saronic Gulf, near the island of Aegina, for 15 million euros. The billionaires plan to invest funds in property development on the island.

In 2015, Berkshire Hathaway made another significant purchase, acquiring aircraft parts manufacturer Precision Castparts Corp for $31.7 billion.

In February 2018, Warren Buffett's investment firm Berkshire Hathaway made several large purchases. It bought 18.9 million shares of the Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva for $358 million and 31.2 million shares of Apple. At the same time, the investment firm almost completely divested its IBM shares, reducing them from 37 million to 2 million.

On February 21, 2019, he lost over $4 billion in a single day.

On February 23, 2019, he published a new letter to shareholders in which he announced a change in the approach to evaluating the financial performance of Berkshire Hathaway.