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Warren Buffett
Table of Contents
Warren Buffett

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 * What is Warren Buffett's primary investment vehicle?
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WARREN BUFFETT

American businessman and philanthropist
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Also known as: Warren Edward Buffett
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Last Updated: Jun 29, 2023 • Article History
Table of Contents
Warren Buffett
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Born: August 30, 1930 (age 92) Omaha Nebraska ...(Show more) Awards And Honors:
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2011) ...(Show more)
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RECENT NEWS

Jun. 29, 2023, 1:16 PM ET (AP)
Warren Buffett's firm buys more Occidental Petroleum and now owns more than 25%
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Billionaire Warren Buffett's company keeps buying shares of Occidental
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Jun. 23, 2023, 1:09 PM ET (AP)
Warren Buffett has given $50.7 billion toward historic pledges to the Gates
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A jury in Oregon has found the electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for
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Top Questions
WHAT IS WARREN BUFFETT KNOWN FOR?

Warren Buffett, known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is an American businessman and
philanthropist, widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th
century. He has amassed a personal fortune of more than $60 billion by defying
prevailing investment trends.

WHAT IS WARREN BUFFETT'S PRIMARY INVESTMENT VEHICLE?

In 1965 Warren Buffett took majority control of the textile manufacturer
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., turning it into his primary investment vehicle. From
the 1960s through the ’90s Berkshire Hathaway’s publicly traded shares gained
about 28 percent per year. Buffett’s success with Berkshire Hathaway made him
one of the world’s wealthiest men.

WHAT CHARITIES DOES WARREN BUFFETT DONATE MONEY TO?

In June 2006 Warren Buffett announced that he would donate more than 80 percent
of his wealth to charitable foundations. The main recipient was the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, which is focused on issues of world health and
education. The other organizations were those run by Buffett’s three children
and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late wife.

WHEN WAS WARREN BUFFETT AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM?

Warren Buffett was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Warren Buffett, in full Warren Edward Buffett, (born August 30, 1930, Omaha,
Nebraska, U.S.), American businessman and philanthropist, widely considered the
most successful investor of the 20th and early 21st centuries, having defied
prevailing investment trends to amass a personal fortune of more than $100
billion.

Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett was the son of U.S. Rep. Howard Homan
Buffett from Nebraska. After graduating from the University of Nebraska (B.S.,
1950), he studied with Benjamin Graham at the Columbia University School of
Business (M.S., 1951). In 1956 Buffett returned to Omaha and in 1965 took
majority control of the textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway Inc., turning it
into his primary investment vehicle. From the 1960s through the ’90s the major
stock averages rose by roughly 11 percent annually, but Berkshire Hathaway’s
publicly traded shares gained about 28 percent per year. Though Buffett’s
success with Berkshire Hathaway made him one of the world’s wealthiest men, he
eschewed lavish spending and criticized governmental policies and taxation that
favoured the rich over the middle or lower classes.

In June 2006 Buffett announced that he planned to donate more than 80 percent of
his wealth to charitable foundations; in 2020 he raised that amount to 99
percent. The main recipient was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—created by
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his then wife, Melinda—which focused on issues
of world health and education; Bill and Buffett had maintained a close
friendship since the early 1990s. The other organizations receiving donations
included those run by Buffett’s three children and the Susan Thompson Buffett
Foundation, named for his late wife, which focused on women’s reproductive
rights and funded college scholarship programs. In 2010 Buffett and the Gateses
created the Giving Pledge, an invitation to other wealthy individuals to donate
the majority of their fortune to charities.



Warren Buffett and Barack Obama

During the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–08, Buffett made a number of deals
that, though questioned at the time, proved highly profitable. In September 2008
he invested $5 billion in the U.S.-based bank holding company Goldman Sachs
Group, Inc., and the following month Berkshire Hathaway purchased $3 billion in
General Electric Company (GE) preferred stock. In November 2009 Buffett
announced that Berkshire was buying the railroad company Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Corporation for about $26 billion; the investment group already owned
approximately 23 percent of the railroad. Berkshire Hathaway also had
significant shareholdings in companies it did not control, including Coca Cola
and Apple.



In 2011 Buffett was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised
and updated by Amy Tikkanen.



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