How Warren built the fortune
Buffett's fortune is held almost entirely in shares of Berkshire Hathaway, the company he has controlled since 1965. He has never taken a large salary and Berkshire does not pay dividends, so his wealth grew through the rising value of the stock rather than through cash he drew from the business. Over six decades Berkshire's share price compounded at a rate far above that of the broader US market, which is the core of his record as an investor.
The engine behind that growth was insurance. Insurers collect premiums before they pay claims, and Buffett used this pool of money, known as float, to buy stocks and entire companies. He looked for businesses with durable competitive advantages, honest managers and prices below what he judged them to be worth, and then held them for very long periods. His holdings in Coca-Cola, American Express and, later, Apple delivered very large gains, while wholly owned companies supplied steady earnings.
Buffett has given away a large part of his original Berkshire stake since 2006, converting shares and donating them every year. Even so, the value of what remains has continued to rise for much of that period.
Companies and holdings
Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest companies in the United States by revenue and owns dozens of businesses outright, including:
- Insurance: GEICO, National Indemnity, General Re and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance
- BNSF Railway, one of the largest freight railroads in North America
- Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which owns electric and gas utilities
- Manufacturing and retail firms such as Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, Duracell, Dairy Queen, See's Candies and Fruit of the Loom
It also holds a large portfolio of listed shares, with major positions in companies such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Bank of America, and stakes in five Japanese trading houses. In May 2025 Buffett announced he would step down as chief executive at the end of the year, and Greg Abel took over the role in January 2026, with Buffett staying on as chairman.
Early life and career
Warren Edward Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in August 1930. His father, Howard, was a stockbroker who later served in Congress. Buffett showed an early interest in money, selling gum and soft drinks door to door and delivering newspapers, and he bought his first shares at age 11. He studied at the Wharton School before transferring to the University of Nebraska, and in 1951 he earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University, where he studied under Benjamin Graham, the author of the classic texts on value investing.
After working for Graham in New York, Buffett returned to Omaha in 1956 and started a series of investment partnerships. Their returns attracted local investors, and in the 1960s the partnership bought control of Berkshire Hathaway, a Massachusetts textile maker trading below the value of its assets. The textile business kept struggling, but Buffett used Berkshire as a vehicle for buying insurers and other companies, and he closed the partnership in 1969. Charlie Munger, a lawyer he met in Omaha, became his closest partner and served as Berkshire's vice chairman until his death in 2023.
Philanthropy and public life
In 2006 Buffett pledged to give most of his Berkshire shares to five foundations, with the largest part going each year to the Gates Foundation and the rest to foundations run by his late first wife and his three children. In 2010 he and Bill Gates launched the Giving Pledge, which asks wealthy people to commit the majority of their fortunes to charity. He later stopped serving as a trustee of the Gates Foundation and has said that the wealth left at his death will go to a charitable trust overseen by his children.
Buffett still lives in the Omaha house he bought in 1958. His annual letters to shareholders and the Berkshire annual meeting, which draws tens of thousands of people to Omaha, have made him a widely quoted voice on investing and corporate governance. He has also argued publicly that very wealthy Americans should pay higher taxes.