Warren Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world. Buffett is also a very generous philanthropist, giving away more than $27 billion over the last decade to charitable foundations.
So, how much is Buffett worth?
Warren Buffett Net Worth as of 2018: $84.7 billion
Buffett achieved his massive amount of wealth through smart investments and from his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He currently sits as the third richest person in the world behind Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Early Life
Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30th, 1930. Warren is the son of U.S. Congressman Howard Buffett and is one of three children.
At an early age, Warren expressed interests in stocks and investing. At just 11 years old he was picking out stocks. By 16, he had amassed in what would be equivalent to $53,000 today. Buffett was continually looking for new ways to create a revenue stream, from delivering newspapers to selling golf balls and stamps, you name and Buffett was finding a way to monetize it.
Buffett entered into the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947. He would eventually transfer and graduate from the University of Nebraska at 19 years old. After his graduation from Nebraska, Buffett attended Columbia Business School.
1951-1969
From 1951-1954 Buffett worked as an investment salesman at Buffett-Falk & Co. Then, in 1954 Buffett worked as a securities analyst at Graham-Newman Corp. The Buffet Partnership was formed in 1956; the firm would then purchase Berkshire Hathaway.
In 1956, Buffett bought his house in Omaha, Nebraska, which he still owns to this day. He bought the house for $31,500.
In 1962, Buffett became a millionaire thanks to his various business partnerships.
1970-1990
Buffett acquired and was named the chairman and held the largest amount of shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Media outlets dubbed Buffett “the oracle of Omaha”.
In 1973, Buffett began investing in the Washington Post and eventually joined the board of directors. His interest in the news market did not end there. In 1977, Berkshire purchased Buffalo Evening News for $32.5 million. The purchase was challenged by rival Buffalo Courier-Express, the lawsuit ended with the Courier-Express folding in 1982.
By 1979, Buffett rapidly began acquiring stock in ABC. Buffett helped finance the Capital Cities takeover of ABC in 1985. The deal returned 25% stake of the company to Buffett.
In 1987, under Buffett’s direction, Berkshire Hathaway purchased 12% stock in Saloman Inc. making it the largest shareholder of the company and Buffett the director. The following year, Buffett purchased 7% stock of Coca-Cola Company valuing $1.02 billion. The Coca-Cola investment is still held today by Berkshire.
1991-2000
Buffett finally reached the billionaire milestone of his career. Berkshire buys 10% of Wells Fargo and continues its banking ventures by buying into M&T Bank and PNC Bank.
In 1992, Berkshire became the largest shareholder in General Dynamics. The investments continue with McDonald’s, Gannett, and Helzberg Diamonds.
Buffett gained 99% of his wealth after the age of 50. In 1999, Buffett was named the top money manager of the Twentieth Century.
2001-Present
In 2006, Buffett announced he would be giving away 85% of his stocks in Berkshire Hathaway to charitable foundations. The largest recipient of the donations was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, Buffett was listed as one of Times 100 Most Influential People in the World
During the financial crisis of the mid-2000’s Buffett was criticized for his handling of Berkshire Hathaway. The company suffered a 77% drop in 2008. Buffett referred to the recession as ‘poetic justice”. Even with the economic downturn and effects of the recession, Buffett was named the richest person in the world in 2008, passing his good friend Bill Gates. Buffett would fall behind Gates the following year, losing $25 billion over a 12-month span.
In 2011, President Obama honored Buffet with the Presidental Medal of Freedom and along with Bill Gates was named the most influential global thinker in Foreign Policy’s report. Buffett grew his net worth back up to $58.8 billion in 2013.
Buffett even with his substantial wealth lived a modest lifestyle. He never found much use for technology and says to spend 80% of his day reading. And when he is not reading is playing the game bridge. Currently, Buffett sits as the third richest man in the world.