Warren Buffett
Born 1930 · Age 95
American investor and philanthropist; longtime chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, famed value investor and founder of the Giving Pledge.
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Life & Career Timeline
Birth in Omaha, Nebraska
Warren Edward Buffett born to Howard and Leila Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska.
Early business: selling gum and soda
As a child Buffett sold Juicy Fruit gum and Coca-Cola bottles—one of his first entrepreneurial activities.
First stock purchase: Cities Service
Bought six shares of Cities Service Preferred (three for himself, three for his sister) for about $38 per share—an early investing lesson.
Files first tax return
Filed his first income tax return, claiming a $35 deduction for bicycle/watch used on his paper route.
Newspaper route earnings & farmland purchase
Earned $175/month delivering Washington Post papers, saved $1,200 and bought a 40-acre farm in Omaha.
Matriculated at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Entered Wharton; joined Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity; studied two years before transferring to University of Nebraska.
Graduated University of Nebraska (BS)
Received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska.
Master's from Columbia Business School
Earned a Master of Science in economics from Columbia, studied under Benjamin Graham and adopted value investing principles.
Attended New York Institute of Finance
Further study to deepen his economics and finance background after Columbia.
Joined Buffett-Falk & Co.
Worked (1951–1954) at his father's brokerage as an investment salesman early in his career.
Married Susan Thompson
Married Susan Thompson; the couple later had three children (Susan Alice, Howard, Peter).
Hired by Benjamin Graham
Accepted a position at Graham-Newman Corp. as a securities analyst with starting salary $12,000/year.
Founded Buffett Partnership Ltd. / returned to Omaha
After Graham retired, Buffett returned to Omaha and launched multiple investment partnerships that later merged into Buffett Partnership Ltd.
Operated multiple partnerships
By 1957 ran several partnerships from his home and expanded to multiple limited partnerships (several by 1959).
Purchased Omaha home
Bought a five-bedroom stucco house in Omaha for $31,500; remained his primary residence decades later.
Sanborn Map activist investment
Revealed Sanborn Map Company comprised 35% of partnership assets; bought substantial stake and forced board repurchase — earned ~50% in two years.
Became millionaire; merged partnerships
Partnerships held over $7,178,500 in assets; Buffett's personal share > $1,025,000; consolidated into Buffett Partnership, Ltd.
Initial purchases of Berkshire Hathaway stock
Started buying shares of textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway due to low price relative to net working capital.
Took control of Berkshire Hathaway
Buffett Partnership became the single largest shareholder and he took control, naming Ken Chace president; began converting Berkshire into investment vehicle.
Closed partnership to new money
Buffett closed partnership to new investors, citing limited attractive opportunities for additional capital.
Berkshire paid only dividend
Berkshire Hathaway paid its first and (to date) only dividend of $0.10 per share.
Liquidated Buffett Partnership
Liquidated the investment partnerships and transferred assets to partners; Buffett began living on $50,000 salary and investment income.
Emerged as Berkshire chairman & majority shareholder
By 1970 Buffett was chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, beginning decades of leadership.
Acquired See's Candies & Wesco Financial
Berkshire purchased See's Candies and a controlling interest in Wesco Financial, key early wholly owned businesses.
Began buying Washington Post stock; joined its board
Berkshire started purchasing shares and Buffett became a close friend and board member alongside Katharine Graham.
Separated from Susan Thompson (began living apart)
Buffett and his wife Susan began living separately in 1977 while remaining legally married until her death in 2004.
Purchased Buffalo Evening News
Berkshire indirectly acquired the Buffalo Evening News for $32.5 million; later renamed Buffalo News.
Charlie Munger joined as vice-chairman
Longtime associate Charlie Munger formally joined Berkshire as vice-chairman and partner in investment philosophy.
Buffett's net worth ~ $100M
By 1979 Berkshire trading at about $290/share and Buffett's net worth estimated at roughly $100 million.
First appearance on Forbes richest list
Berkshire portfolio worth ~$1.3B; Buffett's net worth reached about $620 million; first time on Forbes richest list.
Helped finance Capital Cities' purchase of ABC
Buffett helped finance the surprise $3.5B Capital Cities acquisition of ABC, receiving a 25% stake in the combined company.
Purchased stake in Salomon Inc.
Berkshire acquired roughly 12% of Salomon Inc., making it the largest shareholder; Buffett later became acting chairman during crisis.
Major Coca‑Cola investment
Berkshire began buying The Coca‑Cola Company, ultimately purchasing up to ~7% for about $1.02 billion; long-term holding and major gain.
Purchased corporate jet (named 'The Indefensible')
Spent nearly $6.7 million of Berkshire funds on a private jet—initially called 'The Indefensible', later 'The Indispensable'; sold before mid‑1999.
Berkshire buys stake in Wells Fargo
Acquired about a 10% stake in Wells Fargo (began 1990).
Acquired General Re (Gen Re)
Berkshire purchased General Re as a subsidiary — later encountered underwriting and derivatives issues needing multi-year resolution.
Named Top Money Manager of the Twentieth Century
Named Top Money Manager of the Twentieth Century in a survey by the Carson Group, ahead of Peter Lynch and John Templeton.
Advised Nuclear Threat Initiative; $50M pledge
Became an adviser to the Nuclear Threat Initiative and pledged $50 million.
Entered $11B forward-currency contracts
Buffett entered into forward contracts to deliver U.S. dollars against other currencies valued at ~$11 billion; by 2006 gains > $2 billion.
Death of Susan Thompson Buffett
Susan Buffett died in July 2004; her estate (~$2.6B) went largely to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.
Announced plan to give away most Berkshire holdings
Announced plan to gradually give away ~85% (later specified differently) of his Berkshire holdings to foundations starting July 2006; largest beneficiary Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sponsored Buffett Cup bridge match
Sponsored the Buffett Cup, an international bridge match modeled on golf's Ryder Cup to promote the card game.
Announced historic charitable giving plan (June 2006)
Announced intent to give away the vast majority of his fortune, primarily to the Gates Foundation and foundations run by his children.
Pledged ~10M Berkshire Class B shares to Gates Foundation
Pledged about 10 million Class B shares (valued ≈ $30.7B on June 23, 2006) to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation over time.
Married Astrid Menks
Married longtime companion Astrid Menks on his 76th birthday (they had lived together since 1977).
Listed in Time's 100 Most Influential People
Included among Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world.
Public NYT op‑ed: 'Buy American. I am.'
Wrote a New York Times opinion piece urging investment in American businesses at the height of the financial crisis.
Invested in Goldman Sachs and GE during financial crisis
Sept 2008: Berkshire acquired preferred stock (10%) of Goldman Sachs; Oct 2008: agreed to buy GE preferred stock; played a major stabilizing role in financial markets.
Became richest person in the world (Forbes estimate)
Forbes estimated Buffett's net worth at approximately $62 billion in 2008, making him the world's richest at that time.
Bought preferred stock in Goldman Sachs
On Sept 23, 2008 Berkshire acquired preferred securities of Goldman Sachs during crisis to provide capital support.
Elected to American Philosophical Society
Buffett was elected to the American Philosophical Society in recognition of his contributions.
Acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) announced/closed
2009 announced acquisition for ~$34B in cash & stock; merger closed Q1 2010 with enterprise value reported ~ $44B (including $10B debt), making Berkshire a major railroad owner.
Invested in Swiss Re & Munich Re capital raises
Provided $2.6B as part of Swiss Re equity capital raising; Berkshire already owned ~3% stake with rights to expand.
Co-founded the Giving Pledge
With Bill Gates, launched the Giving Pledge encouraging billionaires to give away at least half their fortunes to charity.
Berkshire enters S&P 500 (post-BNSF acquisition)
Following the Burlington Northern acquisition closing, Berkshire's profile changed and its share inclusion and market cap rose significantly.
Purchased large stake in IBM (revealed)
Over eight months Buffett bought 64 million shares of IBM worth roughly $11 billion at the time (~5.5% stake), surprising many due to prior tech aversion.
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama for philanthropic and business impact.
Diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer
Announced diagnosis and planned two months of daily radiation starting mid-July; later completed treatment.
Completed radiation treatment
Announced completion of 44-day radiation course for prostate cancer and reported good health.
Purchased Omaha World‑Herald
Berkshire acquired the Omaha World‑Herald (publishing) as part of its media acquisitions (acquisition announced 2012/2013 in sources).
Acquired 50% stake in H.J. Heinz (with 3G)
Berkshire and 3G Capital bought 50% stake in H.J. Heinz for $28 billion in a major food-industry deal.
Berkshire Hathaway share price hits $200,000
BRK Class A shares hit $200,000 each for the first time; Buffett still held 321,000 shares (worth ~$64.2B at that time).
Purchased Precision Castparts for $37B
Completed Berkshire's largest-ever acquisition at that time: Precision Castparts for $37 billion (later Buffett said he overpaid).
Public position change: began buying large tech position (Apple)
Shifted stance on tech over time; Berkshire bought large Apple position and later profited substantially from it.
Large Apple stake & Bank of America position
Berkshire bought 76.7M Apple shares and became largest shareholder in Bank of America via warrants exchange; major gains followed.
Sold Laguna Beach vacation home
Sold Laguna Beach vacation home (purchased 1971 for $150,000) for $7.5 million in 2018.
Acquired Dominion Energy's gas storage & transmission business
Berkshire bought Dominion's natural gas storage and transmission business for about $10 billion — Berkshire's biggest deal since 2016.
Net worth reported near $104B
Multiple sources reported Buffett's wealth around $104 billion in 2021; charitable giving to date ~ $41B.
Resigned as trustee of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Buffett announced resignation as a trustee of the Gates Foundation on June 23, 2021.
Large stock donations to charities
In 2024 donated significant Berkshire shares (e.g., 9,930,357 shares valued at ~$4B) and other share gifts continued, part of ongoing giving program.
Forbes net worth estimate (May 2025)
Forbes estimated Buffett's net worth at US$160.2 billion in May 2025, ranking him the fifth-richest person globally.
Requested Greg Abel be named successor at investor conference
At Berkshire Hathaway's May 3, 2025 investor conference Buffett asked the board to appoint Greg Abel as CEO by year-end while he would remain chairman.
Greg Abel appointment announced
On May 5, 2025, Berkshire announced Greg Abel would become president and CEO effective Jan 1, 2026; Buffett to remain chairman.
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