- Warren Buffett is a famed investor, one of the richest people alive, and the CEO of a huge company.
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns scores of businesses and massive stakes in Apple and Coca-Cola.
Warren Buffett is a business icon, a world-famous investor, and one of the wealthiest men alive. Here's a quick introduction to the legendary stock picker ahead of Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.
Who is Warren Buffett?
Warren Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world's largest public companies with a market value of about $700 billion.
Buffett's nearly 16% stake in the conglomerate accounts for the vast majority of his personal fortune of about $110 billion. His net worth ranks him among the top 10 individuals on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Berkshire owns scores of businesses including See's Candies, Dairy Queen, Duracell, Geico, Fruit of the Loom, the BNSF Railway, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy. It also boasts a roughly $300 billion stock portfolio, which includes multibillion-dollar stakes in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, and American Express.
Buffett, who turned 92 in August 2022, acquired Berkshire Hathaway when it was a failing textile mill in 1965. He specializes in spotting undervalued businesses, and has leveraged that skill to buy high-quality stocks and companies on the cheap, and turn Berkshire into a hugely diversified conglomerate.
Buffett's nose for bargains has allowed him to grow Berkshire's value per share by almost 3,800,000%, or nearly 20% a year, since 1965.
The investor and his business partner, 99-year-old Charlie Munger, pioneered a corporate structure of decentralized, autonomous subsidiaries. Berkshire's businesses employ more than 400,000 people, but only around 25 work in its headquarters, as its subsidiaries operate independently with minimal oversight.
Buffett and Munger focus on taking the profits from their businesses, allocating the capital where it's needed within Berkshire, and using some of the spare cash to acquire more businesses and buy shares in public companies.
Notably, they invest the "float" — the money left over after premiums are collected and claims are paid out — from their insurance businesses, which saves them from having to raise outside capital or use debt.
The investor has closed numerous high-profile deals during his career. For example, he made critical investments in Goldman Sachs, General Electric, and other companies during the financial crisis.
Buffett preaches an honest, straightforward approach to business based on trust. He also emphasizes a long-term, ownership mentality among Berkshire's subsidiary CEOs and directors.
Moreover, he puts a great onus on financial prudence — Berkshire always maintains at least $30 billion in cash and cash equivalents so it can weather any surprises or catastrophes.
In 2006, Buffett embraced philanthropy by signing the Giving Pledge, a commitment to donate the majority of his wealth to good causes. He plans to give away more than 99% of his fortune, and has already gifted more than half of his Berkshire shares to the Gates Foundation and four family foundations.
Beyond his investing prowess, business interests, and charitable giving, Buffett is known for his child-like diet. The billionaire eats McDonald's for breakfast, guzzles five cans of Coke daily, and subsists on hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, ice cream, and other indulgent foods.
Buffett is also famous for his yearly letter to Berkshire shareholders, and his annual shareholder meeting. He uses both to not only trumpet Berkshire's success, but also to teach people how to make smart financial decisions, and to call out bad behavior across the corporate world.
The Berkshire chief is hugely influential as well. He's mentored everyone from Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky to GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen, and rapper Jay-Z to retired baseball star A-Rod.
Moreover, business leaders ranging from Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son have studied Berkshire and emulated its structure at their companies.