Buffett, Warren Edward (1930-…), an American business executive, is chairman of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a major U.S. holding company. He is also Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive officer. Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings include insurance companies and manufacturing, retail, and publishing businesses—including World Book, Inc. Buffett is known for buying into undervalued firms.
Buffett was born on Aug. 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska in 1950 and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia University in 1951.
After graduation, Buffett worked first as an investment salesman with his father’s brokerage firm in Omaha, then as a security analyst in New York City. In 1956, Buffett borrowed money from relatives and friends and formed an investment firm, the Buffett Partnership. By the time he dissolved the firm in 1969, the investors had received 30 times their original investment. Buffett then turned his attention to building up Berkshire Hathaway, a Massachusetts textile firm he had bought control of in 1965. The textile business eventually failed and Buffett closed it in 1985. But by that time, he had developed Berkshire Hathaway into a profitable holding company.
The success of Berkshire Hathaway made Buffett one of the richest people in the world. In 2006, he announced plans to give away nearly all of his fortune to charity. Since then, he has donated over $50 billion.
