Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is an American investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is one of the world's most successful investors, the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and is consistently ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately 62 billion dollars.

Buffett is often called the "Oracle of Omaha" or the "Sage of Omaha"and is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth.

Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 85% of his fortune to the Gates Foundation. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.

In 1999, Buffett was named the top money manager of the twentieth century in a survey by the Carson Group, ahead of Peter Lynch and John Templeton, and in 2007, he was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in the world.

Early life

Warren Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Howard Buffett. He worked at his grandfather's grocery store. In 1943, Buffett filed his first income tax return, deducting his bicycle and watch as a work expense for $35 for his work as newspaper delivery boy. After his father was elected to Congress, Buffett was educated at Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington, D.C., where he graduated in 1947. In 1945, in his freshman 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.

Buffett first enrolled at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, (1947–1949) where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. His father and uncles were Alpha Sigma Phi brothers from the chapter in Nebraska. In 1950 he transferred to the University of Nebraska where he received a B.S. in Economics.

Buffett then enrolled at Columbia Business School after learning that Benjamin Graham, (the author of The Intelligent Investor), and David Dodd, two well-known securities analysts, taught there. He then received a M.S. in Economics, Columbia University, in 1951.

In Buffett's own words:

I'm 15 percent Fisher and 85 percent Benjamin Graham.

The basic ideas of investing are to look at stocks as business, use the market's fluctuations to your advantage, and seek a margin of safety. That's what Ben Graham taught us. A hundred years from now they will still be the cornerstones of investing.

Career

Buffett was employed from 1951–1954 at Buffett-Falk & Co., Omaha as an Investment Salesman, from 1954–1956 at Graham-Newman Corp., New York as a Securities Analyst, from 1956–1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd., Omaha as a General Partner and from 1970–Present at Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Omaha as its Chairman, CEO.