Warren Buffett Biography

Fast Facts

• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 by President Barack Obama
• Named the richest person in the world by Forbes in 2008, with a net worth over more than $62 billion
• Named an honorary assistant coach at a Nebraska Cornhuskers game in 2009
• Contributed heavily to the charities started by longtime friend Bill Gates
• Co-founded The Buffett Foundation, which was renamed after his late wife Susan Thompson after her death in 2004
• Completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska after first studying at the University of Pennsylvania for two years
• After earning a master's degree in economics from Columbia, he would later attend the New York Institute of Finance
• Has a lifelong interest in finance and entrepreneurship, dating back to his purchase of a used pinball machine in high school
• Officially became a billionaire when Berkshire Hathaway stocks hit over $7,100 on May 29, 1990
• After establishing several partnerships with various companies in Omaha during his early twenties, he would eventually become a millionaire by 1962 and use his fortune to gain majority control of Berkshire Hathaway
• Became a millionaire in 1962 and soon used his fortune to gain majority control of Berkshire Hathaway
• Is an avid fan of bridge, the card game
• Predicted to become a stockbroker in his 1947 high school yearbook
• Began teaching evening courses on investment principles at the University of Nebraska while still in his twenties
• Bought his first stocks at age 11