Who is Warren Buffett, and why does the mention of his name make investors and financial experts sit up and pay attention? Buffett is an investor and businessman who has been successful his entire life, who started out with nothing and went on to build a billion dollar empire. Investors pay attention when Warren Buffett speaks because the man has a proven track record in the financial and investing world, and a reputation for coming up the hard way, and expecting the same effort of everyone else.
In the past he even cut off relatives so that they could learn to appreciate the value of hard work. Warren Buffett came into the world on August 30, 1930 in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. His father Howard Buffett and mother Leila Buffett were not rich, but they lived a comfortable life. Neither parent had any idea at the time that their newborn son would be called the greatest investor ever in the future. When Warren was 11 years old he made a stock purchase in partnership with his sister. He bought 6 shares of preferred stock in Cities Service, and these were split between Warren and his sister.The price paid per share at the time was $38, and within a short time the price dropped down to $27.
Warren and his sister held on and the stock rebounded, going up to $40 per share. At this point both siblings sold, and regretted the decision a short time later when the stock skyrocketed to a price of more than $200 for every share. This is a lesson Warren has never forgotten and one of the reasons that he is such an exceptional investor.Throughout his childhood years Warren Buffet was more interested in business than in playing like most boys his age. By the time he was 18 years old Warren Buffett was already an accomplished businessman with several successful business deals transacted. In 1947 he gave in to pressure from his father and enrolled in college, and immediately knew that higher education was not for him. In spite of this, Buffett graduated from Columbia University in 1951. By the time he was 26 years old, Warren had amassed personal savings in excess of $140,000.
In 1956 Buffett Associates, Ltd was started, and from this point forward Warren Buffett would only work for himself and see even more success.Today Warren Buffett is 82 years old and still going strong. He has built a personal worth that is estimated in the billions. In 2006 he announced to the world that his entire fortune of $44 billion would be given away, with 85% of this amount going to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are closely linked, because Buffett is the CEO of the company, and also the largest shareholder of stock. It was recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but this diagnosis has not caused him to step down in the company or to step away from Wall Street and investing at all. If anything, he has more pep and energy, not to mention investment and financial knowledge, than anyone else.