Name: Warren Buffett

Date of birth: 08/30/1930

Net worth: $79.7B

Starting point: son of a congressman, Warren Buffett had a great headstart with his funds. He made his first investment at the age of 11, buying shares of Cities Service Preferred with a small but steady profit of $2 per share.

High point:

  • He started his own business of newspaper delivery and selling of horseracing tip sheet

  • In high school, he bought a used pinball machine and set it in a barbershop. This small business brought him enough profit to buy more machines to install in 3 different places. The net worth of this business was $1,200

Low point:

  •  He worked from 1951 to 1954 at Buffett-Falk & Co. as an investment salesman - not the highest position he could have obtained

High point:

  • By 1959, Warren had opened a total of seven partnerships. By the time he was 30, Warren was a millionaire.

Low point:

  • In 1962, Warren bought stocks of Berkshire Hathaway. He aggressively bought shares despite the lack of proper management in this company, and that was the decision he then regretted.

High point:

  • However, he managed to take full control over the Berkshire Hathaway company, selling A list shares for it at $7,175 per share, which made him a billionaire.

Low point:

  • In 1975, Warren Buffett and his business partner, Charlie Munger, were under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud. They insisted they had done nothing wrong and that the purchase of Wesco Financial Corporation only looked suspicious because of their complex system of businesses.

High point:

  • They got out with it.

Low point:

  • He didn’t avoid the Great Recession, losing a significant amount of funds just as many other companies.

High point:

  • He decided to loan funds to the companies on the verge of crisis, and his profit as well. As the dividends brought him more than a significant amount, he eventually became the third wealthiest person in the world.

What were his keys to success, basically? 

  • Keep an eye for the opportunities

  • Stick to a consistent strategy 

  • Plan for long-term investments

Curious facts:

  • He started his global charity donations at age 75.

  • If his income would be taxed 99% per each dollar he earns, that won’t affect his standard of living at all.

To sum it up with just one quote of Warren Buffett here’s wisdom for beginners:

 

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago”