Warren Buffett Fast Facts

Here's in depth-look at the life of Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.



Personal: 

Birth date: August 30, 1930

Birth place: Omaha, Nebraska

Birth name: Warren Edward Buffett

Father: Howard Buffett, politician and businessman

Mother: Leila (Stahl) Buffett

Marriages: Astrid Menks (August 30, 2006-present); Susan (Thompson) Buffett (April 19, 1952-July 29, 2004, her death)

Children: with Susan (Thompson) Buffett: Peter, 1958; Howard, 1954; Susan, 1953

Education: University of Nebraska, B.S., 1950; Columbia University, M.S. in Economics, 1951

Other Facts:

Attended the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School but dropped out to go to the University of Nebraska.

Nicknamed the "Oracle of Omaha."

Collects an annual salary of $100,000.

At the age of 13, Buffett filed his first tax return for income from newspaper routes.

Lives in the same home in Omaha that he purchased in 1958 for $31,500.

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company which lists GEICO, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and numerous other companies as subsidiaries.

Timeline: 

1951-54 - Investment salesman for Buffett, Falk, & Co., his father's investment firm.

1954-56 - Security analyst for Graham-Newman Corp. in New York.

1956-69 - General partner in Buffett Partnership, Ltd., an investment firm he started.

1962 - Begins buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturer in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

1965 - Buys controlling stock in Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

1969 - Dissolves Buffett Partnership. Berkshire Hathaway becomes his investment vehicle.

1970 - Becomes chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

1974-1986 and 1996-May 2011 - Member of the board of directors at the Washington Post Company.

1982 - Appears on the first annual Forbes list of the 400 richest people in America. His net worth is estimated at $250 million.

1989-2003 - Director of the Gillette Company.

1989-2006 - Director of the Coca-Cola Company.

1993 - Reaches the number one spot on the Forbes list of the 400 richest people in America. His net worth
is estimated at $8.325 billion.

1994-2011 - Comes in second, behind Bill Gates, on the Forbes list of the 400 richest people in America.

2003 - Joins Arnold Schwarzenegger's California gubernatorial campaign as an advisor.

May 2004 - Buffett announces he has agreed to serve as an economic adviser to John Kerry during the Kerry campaign.

June 26, 2006 - Officially announces he will gradually donate 85% of his wealth to five foundations. The plan is for Buffett to donate 10 million Berkshire Hathaway class B shares of stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates' foundation, another one million to the Susan Thompson Buffett foundation, named for his late wife, and another 350,000 shares each to the three foundations run by Buffett's three children. This will take place over several years. The value of the shares to be given away is $37 billion in 2006.

2007 - Makes the "Time" magazine list of the 100 most influential people.



May 2008 - Makes his second cameo appearance on soap opera "All My Children." He first appeared in 1992.

September 2008 - Invests $5 billion in Goldman Sachs and $3 billion in General Electric.

February 15, 2011 - Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

May 19, 2011 - Appears on TV sitcom "The Office."

August 2011 - Invests $5 billion in Bank of America.

August 14, 2011 - Buffett writes an op-ed piece for the New York Times entitled, "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich." In the editorial, Buffet calls on Congress to increase taxes on Americans making more than $1 million. This becomes known as the Buffett Rule.

October 11, 2011 - In a letter to Republican Representative Tim Huelskamp, Buffett reveals that his adjusted gross income last year was $62,855,038 and that his taxable income was $39,814,784. Buffett says he paid $15,300 in payroll taxes.

April 17, 2012 - Buffett confirms through a press release that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

August 30, 2012 - Officially announces on his 82nd birthday that he will double the stock the foundations of his children will each receive over time. The value of the shares is $2.08 billion in 2012. This increases the money he will gradually donate to all five foundations to 90% of his wealth.

March 2013 - Ranked number four on Forbes list of the world's billionaires with a net worth of $53.5 billion.