Warren Buffet - 2nd Wealthiest Man In The World

Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is regarded as one of the world's greatest stock market investors, and is the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. With an estimated net worth of around US$62 billion he was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world as of February 11, 2008.

Often called the "Oracle of Omaha," Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is on the low side of senior executive remuneration in other comparable companies and when he spent $6.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a business jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, today valued at around $700,000.


Buffett is also a noted philanthropist. In 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, he was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in The World. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.

Early life and Benjamin Graham

Warren Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska in August of 1930. As the son of a local stock broker, he was likely exposed to markets at a young age. As he got older, Buffett had a few successful entrepreneurial ventures, making him consider proceeding straight into business rather than going to college. His father, however, overruled him on this.

One of his mentors, arguably the most influential, was Benjamin Graham. Graham’s philosophy had such an impact on Buffett that he enrolled in Columbia Business School to study directly under him. In Buffett’s own words: “I’m 15 percent Fisher and 85 percent Benjamin Graham.”

As Buffett would often say about Graham’s teachings: “The basic ideas of investing are to look at stocks as business, use the market's fluctuations to your advantage, and seek a margin of safety. That’s what Ben Graham taught us. A hundred years from now they will still be the cornerstones of investing.”

Public stances

Buffett:

* Has repeatedly criticized the financial industry for what he considers to be a proliferation of advisors who add no value but are compensated based on the volume of business transactions which they facilitate. He has pointed to the growing volume of stock trades as evidence that an ever-greater proportion of investors' gains are going to brokers and other middlemen.

* Has emphasized, the non-productive aspect of gold in 1998 at Harvard: "It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."

* Has stated, that he only paid 19% of his income for 2006 ($48.1 million) in total federal taxes, while his employees paid 33% of theirs despite making far less money.

* Believes that the U.S. dollar will lose value in the long run. He views the United States' expanding trade deficit as an alarming trend that will devalue the U.S. dollar and U.S. assets. As a result it is putting a larger portion of ownership of U.S. assets in the hands of foreigners. This induced Buffett to enter the foreign currency market for the first time in 2002. However, he substantially reduced his stake in 2005 as changing interest rates increased the costs of holding currency contracts. Buffett continues to be bearish on the dollar, and says he is looking to make acquisitions of companies which derive a substantial portion of their revenues from outside the United States. Buffett invested in PetroChina Company Limited and in a rare move, posted a commentary on Berkshire Hathaway's website why he would not divest from the company despite calls from some activists to do so. (He did, however, sell this stake, apparently for purely financial reasons.)

* Believes government should not be in the business of gambling. He believes it is a tax on ignorance.

Buffett's speeches are known for mixing business discussions with humor. Each year, Buffett presides over Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting in the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, an event drawing over 20,000 visitors from both United States and abroad, giving it the nickname "Woodstock of Capitalism". Warren Buffett's Letters to Shareholders

Berkshire's annual reports and letters to shareholders, prepared by Buffett, frequently receive coverage by the financial media. Buffett's writings are known for containing literary quotes ranging from the Bible to Mae West, as well as Midwestern advice and numerous jokes. Various websites extol Buffett's virtues while others decry Buffett’s business models or dismiss his investment advice and decisions.

Buffett also:

* Favors the inheritance tax, saying that repealing it would be like "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics". In 2007, Buffett testified before the Senate and urged them to preserve the estate tax so as to avoid a plutocracy. Some critics, including John Berlau writing in the August 23, 2004 issue of the National Review, have pointed out that Buffett (through Berkshire-Hathaway) has a personal interest in the continuation of the estate tax, since they have benefited from the estate tax in past business dealings and are also involved in developing and marketing insurance policies which protect policy holders against future estate tax payments.

* Has been recognized as most responsible for FASB 123 (r), or Stock Option Expensing on the GAAP Income Statement. When asked about the subject at Berkshire Hathaway's 2004 annual meeting, he compared the United States Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to override FASB, who wanted to consider company-issued stock-option compensation as an expense, to a bill proposed in the Indiana house for Pi to be changed from 3.14... to 3.20.

* Has held fundraisers for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for president. He has not indicated for whom he will vote, but he has expressed that both would make "great Presidents".

* Has called the 2007-present downturn in the financial sector "poetic justice"

* Was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1997.

By: Billionaires and Successful CEOs

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I am greatly fascinated with the lives and accomplishments of the uber wealthy in our society, and in our world. As a successful entrepreneur, I am in touch with a certain business fundamentals and "ear to the ground" knowledge, coupled with a high level of respect for and discretion about the billionaires and successful CEOs I write about. For this reason, I hope to be of service to this small yet highly influential group of people.

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