Origins/Background
Warren Buffets family was brought up in Omaha, Nebraska, US. His great grand father Sidney Buffett abandoned the life of a farmer in Long Island, New York, to go west. He arrived in Omaha in 1869 where he became a stagecoach driver.
He started a family and soon with his own money founded grocery store business. By watching every penny he was able to turn a decent profit and soon expanded to meet the needs of Omaha citizens, hiring 2 of his sons to help out. In 1915, Sidney's son Ernest (Warrens grandfather) took over the store moving its location from downtown to the suburbs. There he prospered and to the Buffett tradition, he saved and reinvested his profits in the business. Howard Buffett (Warrens father) had no intention of working in the grocery store. He attended University of Nebraska majoring in journalism. He quickly took a a position at a insurance company, when Warren Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, his father was selling stocks for Union Street Bank in Omaha and soon started a business with a friend that did not go well throughout the great depression.
Warren was born during the great depression, his childhood went through difficulties, even though he grew up in a mid-class family.
He started a family and soon with his own money founded grocery store business. By watching every penny he was able to turn a decent profit and soon expanded to meet the needs of Omaha citizens, hiring 2 of his sons to help out. In 1915, Sidney's son Ernest (Warrens grandfather) took over the store moving its location from downtown to the suburbs. There he prospered and to the Buffett tradition, he saved and reinvested his profits in the business. Howard Buffett (Warrens father) had no intention of working in the grocery store. He attended University of Nebraska majoring in journalism. He quickly took a a position at a insurance company, when Warren Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, his father was selling stocks for Union Street Bank in Omaha and soon started a business with a friend that did not go well throughout the great depression.
Warren was born during the great depression, his childhood went through difficulties, even though he grew up in a mid-class family.
Upbringing
Warren grew up in a struggling mid-class family during the great depression. During these times when Warren was around age of five he came to a conclusion that he would like to be very rich someday. His father Howard Buffett was a highly conservative U.S. Representative, he knew he differed from his father because he found himself more towards the democratic region. During his high school years he created his own political philosophy, he had different views and dreams from his father, even though his father was his biggest influence in creating a business. He is described as a very gentle and good humored person, which everybody enjoyed to talk to.
Education
He came from a family with high education expectations, however he never thought about getting a university degree, he thought it would've been a waste of money and rather work at a bank instead. Warren was a smart, intelligent and hardworking student. He was a straight A student receiving many honor rolls throughout middle school and high school. Warren went to school and worked trying to make his own money. He loved numbers, patterns, and statistics, showing a passion for math. He had the ability remember specific data such as the exact population of different cities around America. He constantly read books about business and books that would help him make money in the easiest way. His favorite book was 'One Thousand Ways to Make $1000'. He attended Rose Hill Elementary School in Omaha. He moved to Washington when he was 12 were he attended Alice Deal Junior High School, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947. He went to Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and studied there for two years from 1947 to 1949. However in 1950, when he entered his junior year, he transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, at the age of nineteen, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration. After undergraduate studies, Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School, where he met Professor Benjamin Graham, one of his favorite investors.
Career Path
As a young child Warren began to work, not because he needed to but because he wanted to. At the age of five he started selling soft drink cans and pack of gums from door to door in Omaha. As he got older he sold golf balls that he found abandoned in a field to golfers that came to golf. The money he gained from selling pop cans, gum and golf balls, he would never use for his own personal interest, instead he would collect them and re-use it in buying more products. He would go to his fathers office as a child watching stock market trades, keeping track of important sales and prices. At age 11 he bought 3 shares of a energy company, dividing it among his sisters. In 1943, Warren and his family moved to Washington, D.C, due to his fathers works. However he went back to Omaha to live with his grandparents, were he worked at the old Buffet grocery store. He finally decided to return beside his family in Washington, where he started to deliver newspaper to 500 houses. Every month he gained $215 from handing out newspaper. At the same time he invested in a business that was owned by his father, after buying 40 acres of farm land, receiving rent form a tenant farmer.
His biggest work done was when him and a classmate joined together to make a business. His friend was in charge of repairing old machines such as pinball machines, while Warren was in charge of buying at the lowest cost and selling at the highest cost as possible. Within months many barber shops had a pinball machine in the store.
After graduation from Columbia Business school, Warren started to work as an investment counselor and stockbroker at his fathers firm, after being turned down by his favorite professor Benjamin Graham to work at GIECO. There he started to buy stocks from various companies including Texaco. He was employed from 1951–54 at Buffett-Falk & Co., Omaha as an investment salesman, from 1954–1956 at Graham-Newman Corp., New York as a securities analyst, and finally in his own business from 1956–1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd., Omaha as a general partner. In 1970 he purchased a majority of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stocks becoming the chairman and CEO of the company.
After his biggest investment on Berkshire Hathaway, he started increasing his business, buying many stocks from different businesses he found suitable for himself.
His biggest work done was when him and a classmate joined together to make a business. His friend was in charge of repairing old machines such as pinball machines, while Warren was in charge of buying at the lowest cost and selling at the highest cost as possible. Within months many barber shops had a pinball machine in the store.
After graduation from Columbia Business school, Warren started to work as an investment counselor and stockbroker at his fathers firm, after being turned down by his favorite professor Benjamin Graham to work at GIECO. There he started to buy stocks from various companies including Texaco. He was employed from 1951–54 at Buffett-Falk & Co., Omaha as an investment salesman, from 1954–1956 at Graham-Newman Corp., New York as a securities analyst, and finally in his own business from 1956–1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd., Omaha as a general partner. In 1970 he purchased a majority of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stocks becoming the chairman and CEO of the company.
After his biggest investment on Berkshire Hathaway, he started increasing his business, buying many stocks from different businesses he found suitable for himself.