Warren Buffett biography, quotes and net worth

Warren Buffett (1930) demonstrates how far you can go with patience, discipline, and a keen eye for value. While many investors react to hype and short-term fluctuations, Buffett chooses companies he understands and makes decisions that stand the test of time. That makes his story interesting for anyone who wants to approach choices, risks, and growth more thoughtfully.

In this article, you’ll discover who Warren Buffett is, what he’s best known for, and how his investment philosophy came about. You’ll read about Berkshire Hathaway, his partnership with Charlie Munger, value investing, his net worth, philanthropy, and famous quotes. This will help you quickly grasp the essence of one of the world’s most influential investors. Enjoy the read.

What is Warren Buffett best known for?

Warren Edward Buffett is best known as one of the world’s most successful investors and as the face behind Berkshire Hathaway. He built his reputation on value investing, patient long-term decisions, and investing in companies he understands well.

His nickname Oracle of Omaha refers to his hometown of Omaha and his reputation as a level-headed, forward-thinking investor. His annual shareholder letters, his partnership with Charlie Munger, and his philanthropic efforts have also made him influential worldwide.

In summary, Warren Buffett is best known for:

• his role at Berkshire Hathaway;
• his investment philosophy centered on value investing;
• his long-term perspective;
• his nickname Oracle of Omaha;
• his annual shareholder letters;
• his philanthropy.

Who is Warren Buffett? His biography

Warren Edward Buffett is one of the three children of Howard and Leila Buffett. Later dubbed the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett started trading at the age of 6. While other children were playing outside, Buffett bought six cola cans from the local supermarket and started making money. He sold the cans with a five-cent profit per can and saved up a modest amount.

Five years later, at the age of 11, Buffett bought his first shares for himself and his sister Doris. He paid $38 for the shares in Cities Service Preferred. Right after his purchase, the stock price of the share dropped with $11 to $27 per share.

The disappointed but resilient Buffett kept the shares until they rose to a value of $40. Although he made a profit with his first transaction, Buffett learned that patience is a virtue in the financial world; the value of the shares rose quickly to $200.

The state where Buffett grew up took a significant hit from the Great Depression. This taught Buffett, and many others with him, to respect the value of money. In fact, he valued this to such an extent that he started living in a YMCA youth hostel to spend less money on his living expenses.

At the age of 13, Buffet got his first job as a paper boy. His first goal, to make $1,000, was achieved the following year, in 1944.

Warren Edward Buffet started his studies at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Eventually, he graduated from Colombia University in 1951 with a master of science. Here, he learned to develop his investment philosophy and was taught by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. He would meet Benjamin Graham again later.

Warren’s father and Benjamin Graham impressed upon Buffett not to work on Wall Street after graduating. Therefore, he started working at his father’s company, Buffett-Falk & Co., after graduating. He started as an investment salesman at this company. During this period, Buffett had saved up nearly $10,000. It demonstrates his exceptional insight into the financial world.

In 1954, he started working for Benjamin Graham in a new partnership. Benjamin Graham was a difficult man. He expected Buffett to do everything he’d been taught and to comply with the conventional rules of investing. Buffett, however, had a very different view and questioned these rules.

Benjamin Graham quit the partnership in 1956, after which he retired. By then, Buffett had built a significant network and completed seven limited partnerships in 1956. In doing so, he started Buffett Associates Ltd., an investment firm in Omaha.

He invested $100 in the company himself and before the end of the year, Buffett managed approximately $300,000 of capital. Although he was pleased with his first results, he remained particularly ambitious to further expand his empire. He bought his first house ‘Buffett’s Folly’, and managed all the partnerships from one of the bedrooms.

This house was the place where Buffet’s life began to take shape. He had a beautiful wife, had three children, and was the founder of a very successful company. In the years after, Buffet proved himself by achieving a profit of 250%, where the Dow only increased with 74%.

In 1962, Buffett made his first million. By 1965, he had over 90 partners in the United States. In a new strategy, he merged these partnerships into a single company: Buffett Partnerships Ltd. He raised the minimal investment to 100,000 dollars and started his office on Farnam Street, Omaha.

Around 1962, one Charlie Munger moved back to Omaha from California. People describe him as a snob, but this man was brilliant. He attended Harvard Law School without a bachelor’s degree. Buffett and Munger were introduced to each other by mutual friends and felt an instant attraction. This was the basis for a close friendship and a successful business collaboration that would change lives the coming 40 years.

A few years after the Buffett Partnership Ltd was founded, the company’s assets increased by over 1,000%, equalling total assets of $44 million. The most successful year, however, was 1968 when the profit increase amounted to 59% and total assets of $104 million. In the meantime, the company had started to invest in Berkshire Hathaway, a textile factory. Buffett started buying the shares in the early ’60s and eventually took over control.

In the late ’60s, Berkshire Hathaway bought a 12% interest in Salomon Inc, making them the biggest shareholder. Buffett became the director and, after a scandal in 1990, took over the position of CEO John Gutfreund in 1991.

Buffett started buying Berkshire shares from the Coca-Cola Company around 1988. They did this for several years and eventually bought 7% of the company worth $1.02 billion. It turned out to be one of the company’s best investments ever. He signed over $11 billion worth of contracts to deliver dollars to other currencies in 2002.

In 2006, he had made over $2 billion. In that year, he also announced he wished to donate the bulk of his immense fortune to charity, of which the majority was to go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This foundation received over $28 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares from 2014.

Net worth

Net worth / assets

Warren Buffett’s current net worth is constantly changing due to fluctuations in the stock prices of Berkshire Hathaway and other investments. As a result, figures and rankings on billionaire lists may vary by source and date. His net worth remains primarily tied to his stock holdings, his long-term role at Berkshire Hathaway, and his philanthropic donations.

Warren Buffett remained a successful man. In 2011, he invested in International Business Machine Corp (IBM). In 2012, he bought Media General, a collective that included over 60 newspapers in the southern United States. Despite the fact that many of Buffett’s successful contemporaries retired, Buffett continued to exert significant influence on the activities of Berkshire.

Warren also had an eventful personal life. His first wife, Susan, passed away in 2004. Although they never got divorced, Buffett had a relationship with Astrid Menks for 20 years, which was approved by Susan. They married in 2006. It is also known that Buffett has financed various political, democrat campaigns, including campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Warren Buffett’s Investment Philosophy

Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy revolves around patience, value, and understanding businesses. He is known as a proponent of value investing, an investment approach that focuses not on short-term stock prices but on a company’s underlying value.

Buffett looks for companies with a strong business model, reliable management, a clear competitive advantage, and sound financial results. He prefers to invest in companies he understands well. As a result, he avoids investments that are too complex, speculative, or difficult to predict.

A key principle of Warren Buffett’s is that investing is not about acting quickly, but about choosing carefully. He would rather buy shares of high-quality companies at a reasonable price than mediocre companies at a low price. This way of thinking has been strongly influenced by Benjamin Graham, his mentor at Columbia University.

In addition, Buffett takes a long-term view. He does not view stocks as short-term trading instruments, but as proof of ownership in real companies. Those who adopt this perspective are less likely to be swayed by temporary market fluctuations, panic, or hype. For Buffett, discipline, patience, and rational thinking are therefore more important than predicting the market.

For entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals, his investment philosophy offers valuable lessons even outside the financial world. It demonstrates how important it is to focus on quality, sustainable growth, clear choices, and avoiding unnecessary risks.

Video about Warren Buffett

This video further explores Warren Buffett’s story. You’ll see how his patience, long-term thinking, and focus on value have contributed to his influence as an investor and entrepreneur.

Warren Buffett quotes

1. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
2. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
3. “It’s better to hang out with people who are better than you. Choose associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you’ll drift in that direction.”
4. “We simply try to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
5. “I just sit in my office and read all day”
6. “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”
7. “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing isn’t a game where the guy with an IQ of 160 beats the guy with an IQ of 130.”
8. “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”
9. “After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
10. “Your premium brand had better be delivering something wonderful, or it’s not going to get the business.”
11. “When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night’s sleep for the chance of extra profits.”
12. “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
13. “I really like my life. I’ve arranged my life so that I can do what I want.”
14. “The first rule is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule.”
15. “I don’t measure my life by the money I’ve made. Other people might, but I certainly don’t.”
16. “Rule No. 1 is never to lose money. Rule No. 2 is never to forget Rule No. 1.”
17. “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.”
18. “The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.”
19. “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.”

Books and Publications by Warren Buffett

• 2025. Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders. Explorist Productions.
• 2012. Warren Buffett: Why Stocks Beat Gold and Bonds. Fortune, February 27.
• 2010. Warren Buffett Talks to MBA Students. BN Publishing.
• 2010. My philanthropic pledge. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
• 2008. Back to School: Question & Answer Session with Business Students. BN Publishing.
• 2001. Warren Buffett on the stock market. Fortune Investor’s Guide, 80–94.
• 2001. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America. L. Cunningham.
• 2002. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Shareholder Letter.
• 2002. Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman’s Letter (Feb. 21, 2003).
• 2002. Who really cooks the books?. New York Times, 24, A19.

Sources and Further Reading

• Berkshire Hathaway – Warren Buffett’s Letters to Berkshire Shareholders → Official collection of Warren Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders.
• Berkshire Hathaway – Annual & Interim Reports → Berkshire Hathaway’s annual and quarterly reports.
• Berkshire Hathaway – 2026 Proxy Statement → Official document containing information about the board of directors, shareholder structure, and Greg Abel’s succession.
• SEC – Berkshire Hathaway DEF 14A filing → Formal securities filings regarding Berkshire Hathaway, including the current board structure.
• The Giving Pledge – Warren Buffett → Background on Buffett’s philanthropic pledge to give away the majority of his wealth.
• Forbes – Warren Buffett Profile → Current profile page with information on net worth, position, and business background.

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Original publication date: March 16, 2019 | Last update: July 6, 2026

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