Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the second of three children born to Howard Buffett and Leila Stahl Buffett. His father was a businessman, stockbroker and later a four-term U.S. congressman.
Buffett’s fascination with business appeared remarkably early. As a child, he spent time around his father’s brokerage office and became interested in stock prices and how businesses worked.
At just 11 years old, Buffett purchased his first stock: three shares of Cities Service Preferred for $38 each. The stock initially fell, but eventually recovered, allowing him to sell at a small profit. Soon afterward, however, the stock climbed dramatically. The experience taught Buffett an important lesson about patience—one that would become central to his investment philosophy.
His entrepreneurial ambitions extended beyond stocks. As a teenager, he delivered newspapers, sold products door-to-door and experimented with small businesses. By his teenage years, he had already accumulated meaningful savings and even invested in farmland.
Education: From Wharton to Benjamin Graham
Buffett initially attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He later transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration.
His most important educational experience, however, came afterward.
Buffett attended Columbia Business School, where he studied under legendary investor Benjamin Graham, widely regarded as the father of value investing. Graham taught Buffett to search for businesses whose market prices were below what he believed their underlying value was worth.
Graham’s book The Intelligent Investor had a profound influence on Buffett. The principles Buffett learned there—discipline, valuation, patience and emotional control—would eventually become the foundation of his investment career.
After graduating, Buffett worked for Graham’s investment firm, Graham-Newman Corp., gaining practical experience in analyzing companies and securities.
Building His Own Investment Business
In 1956, Buffett returned to Omaha and established Buffett Partnership Ltd. He began managing money for family members, friends and other investors.
His strategy was relatively simple but extremely disciplined: identify investments that appeared undervalued, buy them at attractive prices and allow time to work in his favor.
Buffett’s approach was influenced heavily by Graham, but over time it evolved. Instead of simply looking for extremely cheap companies, Buffett increasingly focused on buying high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages and capable management.
This evolution was heavily influenced by his longtime business partner and friend, Charlie Munger.
Berkshire Hathaway: The Investment That Changed Everything
The defining chapter of Buffett’s career began with Berkshire Hathaway.
Originally a struggling textile manufacturer, Berkshire Hathaway was not initially the type of business that would become the foundation of a massive conglomerate. Buffett began buying its shares in the 1960s and eventually took control of the company in 1965.
Rather than continuing to focus on textiles, Buffett gradually transformed Berkshire into a diversified holding company.
Over the decades, Berkshire invested in or acquired businesses across insurance, railroads, energy, consumer goods, manufacturing and other industries. Major investments included companies such as GEICO, Coca-Cola and American Express, while Berkshire also acquired businesses including BNSF Railway and Dairy Queen.
Buffett’s genius was not simply picking stocks. It was his ability to allocate capital over decades, allowing the earnings of businesses to be reinvested into new opportunities.
Under his leadership, Berkshire’s share price rose enormously over the decades. Harvard Business School notes that Berkshire’s stock price increased from $12 a share in 1965 to $4,200 by 1987, illustrating the extraordinary long-term transformation of the company.
The Power of Compounding
The most important word in Buffett’s financial story may be compounding.
His strategy was rarely about making money quickly. Instead, he sought to own productive businesses for very long periods and allow their value to grow.
Berkshire Hathaway’s long-term performance became one of the most remarkable records in investment history. Recent analysis places Berkshire’s average annual return during Buffett’s tenure at roughly 19.9%, compared with about 10.4% for the S&P 500 over the comparable period.
That difference may appear small over a single year. Over several decades, however, it becomes enormous.
This is why Buffett repeatedly emphasized patience rather than speculation. His philosophy was built around understanding businesses, avoiding unnecessary risks and allowing time to multiply gains.
Personal Life and Family
Despite becoming one of the richest people in the world, Buffett became famous for maintaining an unusually modest lifestyle.
He has lived for decades in the same Omaha home he purchased in 1958 and has frequently spoken about the importance of living below one’s means.
Buffett married Susan Thompson in 1952, and they had three children: Susan, Howard and Peter. Although Warren and Susan separated in the late 1970s, they remained married until her death in 2004.
Buffett later developed a close relationship with Astrid Menks, whom he married in 2006.
His personal philosophy has often emphasized that money alone cannot determine whether someone has lived a successful life. For Buffett, reputation, relationships and the people one loves are ultimately more valuable than wealth.
Warren Buffett’s Net Worth
Buffett’s fortune has been built primarily through his ownership of Berkshire Hathaway rather than through a traditional salary.
His wealth fluctuates with Berkshire’s share price and his charitable donations. Estimates in 2026 have placed his fortune in the neighborhood of $150 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world. CNBC’s Buffett archive estimated his wealth at more than $140 billion in mid-2026, while Forbes-based estimates around the beginning of the year put it closer to $149 billion.
Yet Buffett has repeatedly stated that he does not intend to keep the majority of his fortune for himself.
He has pledged to give away the overwhelming majority of his wealth to philanthropy. His charitable giving has already reached tens of billions of dollars, particularly through donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Buffett family foundations.
A New Chapter for Berkshire Hathaway
After more than six decades at the helm, Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive in January 2026. Greg Abel succeeded him as CEO, while Buffett remained Berkshire’s chairman.
The transition marked the beginning of a new era for the company Buffett had transformed from a struggling textile manufacturer into one of America’s most valuable corporate empires.
Under Abel, Berkshire has already begun making more aggressive capital-allocation decisions, including major investments in Alphabet and other companies during 2026.
The Legacy of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett’s story is ultimately not just a story about becoming rich.
It is a story about starting early, learning continuously, controlling emotions, making rational decisions and giving investments time to compound.
He did not build his fortune through a revolutionary invention or a rapidly growing technology company. Instead, Buffett mastered something seemingly ordinary: buying pieces of good businesses and holding them for extraordinarily long periods.
From a boy buying his first stock at 11 to becoming the architect of Berkshire Hathaway, his life demonstrates the extraordinary power of consistency.
That is why Warren Buffett remains known not simply as a billionaire, but as the “Oracle of Omaha”—an investor whose greatest advantage was often the willingness to wait while everyone else was chasing the next big opportunity.