Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. 1)
At age 10, during a trip to New York City with his father, Buffett dined with a member of the New York Stock Exchange, inspiring him to organize his life around investing. 2)
Buffett purchased his first stock at 11 years old, buying multiple shares of Cities Service Preferred for $38 apiece. 3)
As a teenager delivering papers for The Washington Post and running small ventures, Buffett earned about $175 a month, which was more than most of his teachers made. 4)
By the time he was 16 years old, Buffett had amassed the equivalent of over $50,000 through side hustles like pinball machine rentals and selling golf balls. 5)
Buffett was rejected from Harvard Business School after his admissions interview, leading him to attend Columbia University instead. 6)
At Columbia, Buffett studied under Benjamin Graham, the author of “The Intelligent Investor,” who became his primary intellectual mentor. 7)
At age 21, terrified of public speaking, Buffett spent $100 to take a Dale Carnegie course, which he credits with helping him gain confidence. 8)
Buffett lives in a five-bedroom house in Omaha, Nebraska, which he originally purchased in 1956 for $31,500. 9)
For decades, Buffett maintained a desk without a computer or smartphone, opting for a landline telephone and printed encyclopedias. 10)
Buffett has famously sent only a single email in his life, which was addressed to former Microsoft executive Jeff Raikes. 11)
An avid bridge player, Buffett spends up to 12 hours a week playing the card game, frequently partnering with Bill Gates. 12)
Buffett originally bought shares in Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 when it was a struggling New England textile manufacturing company. 13)
Buffett popularized value investing, focusing on buying financially sound companies with strong market advantages at prices below their intrinsic value. 14)
Buffett coined the investment concept of an “economic moat,” referring to a business's structural ability to maintain a competitive advantage over rivals. 15)
Berkshire Hathaway made a surprise $350 million investment in The New York Times, six years after selling off its local newspaper collection. 16)
Berkshire Hathaway built a massive stake exceeding 130 million shares in energy titan Chevron. 17)
While Apple remains one of Berkshire's largest equity holdings, Buffett systematically trimmed portions of the massive stock position in 2024 and 2025. 18)
Buffett first invested heavily in Bank of America during the 2011 subprime mortgage crisis recovery before paring down the position in later years. 19)
In addition to stocks, Buffett built Berkshire into a conglomerate that wholly owns Geico, BNSF Railroad, Dairy Queen, and See's Candies. 20)
Buffett established a Thanksgiving tradition of donating over $1 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to family-run charitable foundations. 21)
Buffett arranged for his three children to oversee and distribute his remaining multi-billion-dollar fortune within ten years following his death. 22)
Buffett has consistently stated that hugely wealthy parents should leave children enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing. 23)
In 2010, alongside Bill and Melinda Gates, Buffett co-founded The Giving Pledge, encouraging billionaires to commit the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. 24)
Buffett contributed over $55 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation over two decades of giving. 25)
Buffett advises parents to let their children read their wills while still alive to explain decisions and prevent post-death family confusion. 26)
Buffett worked alongside business partner Charlie Munger for nearly six decades until Munger's death in late 2023. 27)
Berkshire Hathaway designated Greg Abel, head of non-insurance operations, as the designated successor to lead the conglomerate. 28)
Even after donating billions in stock, Buffett retained more than 30% of the total voting power in Berkshire Hathaway. 29)
Buffett is universally nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha” or “Sage of Omaha” due to his legendary investment record and folksy wisdom. 30)
Buffett began buying shares of Coca-Cola in 1988, turning it into one of Berkshire Hathaway's most iconic and profitable long-term holdings. 31)
In 1973, Buffett bought a major stake in The Washington Post when market panic priced the company at a fraction of its liquidation value. 32)
A foundational pillar of Buffett's investment strategy is requiring a large “margin of safety” before purchasing any business or stock. 33)
Buffett evaluates every potential deal using an “opportunity cost” framework, comparing new opportunities directly against the best existing holdings. 34)
Despite his immense wealth, Buffett eats breakfast at McDonald's almost every morning, selecting his meal based on the daily stock market status. 35)
Buffett is famous for drinking up to five cans of Cherry Coke a day, joking that his diet resembles that of a six-year-old child. 36)
Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha attracts tens of thousands of investors and is known as the “Woodstock for Capitalists.” 37)
Buffett famously operates within his “circle of competence,” refusing to invest in businesses or technology sectors he does not thoroughly understand. 38)
Buffett's father, Howard Buffett, was a four-term U.S. Congressman representing Nebraska, which exposed young Warren to politics and economics. 39)
Buffett originally enrolled at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania but transferred to the University of Nebraska, graduating at age 19. 40)
Buffett married Susan Thompson in 1952, and the couple had three children: Susie, Howard, and Peter. 41)
Following Susan's death in 2004, Buffett married his longtime companion Astrid Menks in 2006 on his 76th birthday. 42)
In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded Warren Buffett the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. 43)
Buffett's annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters are widely read across the global financial industry for their economic insights and humorous anecdotes. 44)
Over 99% of Warren Buffett's total wealth was accumulated after his 50th birthday, illustrating the exponential power of long-term financial compounding. 45)