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WHO IS WARREN BUFFETT

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett is a businessman, philanthropist and one of the most successful and widely respected investors globally. His net worth was estimated at $71.8 billion as of July 2020. Buffet's investment philosophy is widely followed around the globe.

Early years and education

Born in Omaha, US, in 1930, Buffet developed an interest in the business world and started investing at an early age, including in the stock market. His father, Howard, was a stockbroker with his own brokerage firm, and his mother Leila was a housewife. Buffett had two sisters, one older than him and one younger. At eleven years old, he purchased three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share for both himself and his older sister. But, the stock fell to just over $27 a share. A resilient Warren held his shares until they rebounded to $40.

Buffet started his education at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania before moving back to go to the University of Nebraska, where he received an undergraduate degree in business administration. After graduation, Buffett wanted to go to Harvard Business School, but got rejected for being "too young". Instead, he went to the Columbia Business School, where he earned his graduation in economics.

Ben Graham, an investor who was teaching at Columbia had a great influence on Buffett. Buffett learnt about the fundamentals of investing in Graham’s classes. Through his simple yet profound investment principles, Graham became an idyllic figure to the twenty-one-year-old Warren Buffett.

Buffet's investments

In the initial days of his career, Buffet worked at his father's brokerage firm. His career as an investment salesperson in the early 1950s was not successful. In 1956, he formed the Buffet Partnership. Seven family members and friends invested $105,000 in total, with Buffett investing only $100 himself. By the end of the year, he was managing around $300,000.

Warren Buffett started buying stocks in Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, when it was mainly run as a textiles company. He realised there was not so much profit in it and started to phase it out. He started investing in insurance companies instead. Less than 10 years later, in 1965, he was in control of Berkshire Hathaway. In 1970, Buffett named himself as the company’s chairman and wrote his first letter to the shareholders. These letters from Buffett would later become very famous and a subject of study for many investors around the world. Berkshire later acquired several companies, including See’s Candy and GEICO. Berkshire managed to own a 7 per cent share in Coca-Cola, which was worth over $1 billion. Buffett became a billionaire in 1990. In the early to late 2000s, Buffet invested heavily in big banks.

Philanthropic work

Since the year 2000, Buffett has donated more than $46 billion, becoming the most charitable billionaire. In June 2006, Buffett announced his plans to donate his entire fortune to charity. Then, in 2010, Buffett and Bill Gates launched ‘The Giving Pledge campaign’ to encourage other wealthy individuals to pursue philanthropy.

Investment philosophy

Buffet's investment philosophy revolves around how a company works. He looks for securities whose prices are unjustifiably low based on their intrinsic worth. Rather than focus supply and demand intricacies of the stock market, Buffett is known to look at companies as a whole. Some of the factors Buffett is believed to consider are company performance, company debt, and profit margins. Other considerations for value investors like Buffett include whether companies are public, how reliant they are on commodities, and how cheap they are. Buffet's vision to avoid the hype, and stick around companies with his long-term approach gives him his edge.

WARREN BUFFETT NEWS

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway buys stock worth $4.1 bn in TSMC
TSMC's other foreign investors include U.S. asset managers BlackRock Inc and Vanguard Group Inc, and Singapore sovereign wealth ...| November 15, 2022, Tuesday
All eyes on Buffett, Son India stakes as Rs 1.15-trillion lock-ups end
While high-profile tech IPOs have met with strong demand from the growing herd of retail investors, market pros have been more ...| November 07, 2022, Monday
Paytm, Nykaa among tech stocks under watch as lock-in period ends
Lock-ups end in November for four consumer-focused tech stocks, which have all slumped in the past month| November 07, 2022, Monday
Sale of Warren Buffett portrait raises lesser funds than $19 mn lunch bid
The auction of a high-tech portrait of Warren Buffett didn't come close to matching the $19 million someone paid earlier this ...| August 31, 2022, Wednesday
Buffett's Berkshire trims stake in China's BYD, a holding since 2008
Buffett's company had acquired 225 million BYD shares in 2008, giving it a 7.73% stake, equal to the 20.49% stake in H shares, ...| August 30, 2022, Tuesday
Warren Buffett's company likely to keep investing in Occidental Petroleum
Warren Buffett's company received clearance to boost its 20% stake in Occidental Petroleum to as much as 50%, but it's not ...| August 23, 2022, Tuesday
Warren Buffett's company has bet over $45 billion on the oil sector
Occidental's stock jumped nearly 5% Tuesday to trade for USD 62.89 after Buffett revealed his latest purchases of nearly 6.7 ...| August 09, 2022, Tuesday
Warren Buffett's firm owns nearly $11 bn of Occidental Petroleum's stock
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway now owns nearly $11 billion worth of Occidental Petroleum stock after buying another 1.9 ...| July 20, 2022, Wednesday
Did Buffett and Munger see the one wrinkle in BYD's stellar performance?
After years of sitting on an over 20 per cent stake in China's BYD Co, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway may be mulling an exit| July 18, 2022, Monday
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway buys more Occidental Petroleum shares
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway now controls nearly 20% of Occidental Petroleum's stock after picking up another $250 million ...| July 15, 2022, Friday

WHO IS WARREN BUFFETT

Warren Buffett

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