Warren Buffet Business Timeline
1930 Born on August 30 in Omaha, Nebraska.
1943 Moves to Washington, D.C., after father is elected to U.S House of Representatives
1950 Earns bachelors degree in business from University of Nebraska, Lincoln; begins graduate school at Columbia University.
1951 Makes first purchase of GEICO stock; after earning masters degree, returns to Omaha and joins father’s investment firm.
1952 Marries Susan Thompson
1953 Daughter Susie is born
1954 Moves to New York to join firm of Graham-Newman; son Howard is born.
1955 Returns to Omaha; creates investment partnership Buffett Associates Ltd.
1958 Son Peter is born.
1959 Meets Charlie Munger, who becomes business adviser and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.
1962 Moves offices from home to downtown Omaha high-rise, Kiewit Plaza; begins to buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway.
1963 Investment in American Express helps the company avoid bankruptcy after scandal.
1965 Invests in the Walt Disney Company; takes control of Berkshire Hathaway.
1967 Net worth tops $10 million as his investment partnership grows to $67 million.
1968 Folds his investment partnership; retains Berkshire Hathaway.
1972 Buffett and Munger, with funds from blue chip stamps, buy See’s Candies.
1973 Joins the board of directors of the Washington post company.
1976 Begin acquisitions of GIECO insurance.
1977 Buys the Buffalo Evening News
1983 buys Nebraska furniture mart
1984 Invests $500 million in capital cities/ABC; engineers a Berkshire takeover of Scott Fetzer Company.
1988 Buys $1 billion worth of Coca-Cola stock; buys a controlling interest in Salomon Brothers.
1989 Adds the Gillette Company to Berkshire’s Portfolio.
1991 Becomes interim chairman of Salomon Brothers; helps the company recover from a scandal involving illegal trading.
1993 Named wealthiest man in America by Forbes magazine as Berkshire Hathaway Class A stocks trade at more than $17,000 per share.
1994 Microsoft founder Bill Gates surpasses Buffett as the wealthiest person in the world.
1998 Acquires General Re and Dairy Queen.
1999 Berkshire Hathaway suffers its worst year ever during the boom in computer technology.
2000 Refusal to buy tech stocks vindicated when that sector of the market crashes.
2002 Buys Fruit of the Loom and the Pampered Chef.
2004 Susan Thompson Buffett dies of a stroke in Wyoming.
2006 Announces donation of most of his personal fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; marries longtime companion Astrid Menks; Berkshire Class A stock trades at more than $100,000 per share.
1943 Moves to Washington, D.C., after father is elected to U.S House of Representatives
1950 Earns bachelors degree in business from University of Nebraska, Lincoln; begins graduate school at Columbia University.
1951 Makes first purchase of GEICO stock; after earning masters degree, returns to Omaha and joins father’s investment firm.
1952 Marries Susan Thompson
1953 Daughter Susie is born
1954 Moves to New York to join firm of Graham-Newman; son Howard is born.
1955 Returns to Omaha; creates investment partnership Buffett Associates Ltd.
1958 Son Peter is born.
1959 Meets Charlie Munger, who becomes business adviser and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.
1962 Moves offices from home to downtown Omaha high-rise, Kiewit Plaza; begins to buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway.
1963 Investment in American Express helps the company avoid bankruptcy after scandal.
1965 Invests in the Walt Disney Company; takes control of Berkshire Hathaway.
1967 Net worth tops $10 million as his investment partnership grows to $67 million.
1968 Folds his investment partnership; retains Berkshire Hathaway.
1972 Buffett and Munger, with funds from blue chip stamps, buy See’s Candies.
1973 Joins the board of directors of the Washington post company.
1976 Begin acquisitions of GIECO insurance.
1977 Buys the Buffalo Evening News
1983 buys Nebraska furniture mart
1984 Invests $500 million in capital cities/ABC; engineers a Berkshire takeover of Scott Fetzer Company.
1988 Buys $1 billion worth of Coca-Cola stock; buys a controlling interest in Salomon Brothers.
1989 Adds the Gillette Company to Berkshire’s Portfolio.
1991 Becomes interim chairman of Salomon Brothers; helps the company recover from a scandal involving illegal trading.
1993 Named wealthiest man in America by Forbes magazine as Berkshire Hathaway Class A stocks trade at more than $17,000 per share.
1994 Microsoft founder Bill Gates surpasses Buffett as the wealthiest person in the world.
1998 Acquires General Re and Dairy Queen.
1999 Berkshire Hathaway suffers its worst year ever during the boom in computer technology.
2000 Refusal to buy tech stocks vindicated when that sector of the market crashes.
2002 Buys Fruit of the Loom and the Pampered Chef.
2004 Susan Thompson Buffett dies of a stroke in Wyoming.
2006 Announces donation of most of his personal fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; marries longtime companion Astrid Menks; Berkshire Class A stock trades at more than $100,000 per share.