Warren Buffett (aka the “Oracle of Omaha” or the “Sage of Omaha”), is one of the richest men in the world. He didn’t inherit his money. He is not some big movie star, or sports figure. He did it by investing in the stock market. Warren Buffett got rich by doing stuff that any of us could do. But Warren Buffett is also a genius at what he does.
Buffett was born August 30, 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska. He started working at his father’s brokerage at age 11. He also bought his first stocks that same year. He sold the stocks for a profit, only to see them go higher. He also bought some land that he rented to farmers.
Warren Buffett attended the University of Nebraska, then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. He got his Master’s degree in economics at Columbia Business School sudying under another investing genius, Benjamin Graham.
Buffet work at his father’s brokerage as a salesman, and later was invited to work for Graham-Newman.
Later Warren Buffet established an investment partnership named Buffett Partnership Limited (BPL). BPL made huge stock market returns. BPL established a large position in Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturer, which Warren Buffet would use as a holding company. Buffet dissoved the partnership, offering the partners cash or Berkshire Hathaway stock.
Warren Buffett discovered insurance companies have huge amounts of cash. So his strategy was to purchase or build insurance or reinsurance companies and use them as super margin accounts to buy equities.
Berkshire Hathaway owns companies like Geico, Dairy Queen, and Fruit of the Loom. It also has large positions in companies like Coka-Cola.
Warren Buffett is truly a genious.

Posted by Rob in Getting Rich on May 19th, 2006 |