Who is Warren Buffett?
Warren Buffett (full name: Warren Edward Buffett) was born on August 30, 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha. Known to many as the Wizard of Omaha or the Oracle of Omaha or the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett is a strong believer of value investing, a belief which the legendary value investor steadfastly puts into practice at Berkshire Hathaway. Reflecting the great success of his value investment approach, Berkshire Hathaway’s 2013 Annual Report shows that “over the last 49 years (that is, since present management took over), book value has grown from US$19 to US$134,973, a rate of 19.7% compounded annually”. These are per-share book values. Berkshire Hathaway describes itself as a holding company owning subsidiaries that engage in a number of diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, freight rail transportation, utilities and energy, finance, manufacturing, services and retailing.
Warren Buffett is one of the best-known disciples of Benjamin Graham (May 8, 1894 – September 21, 1976), the father of value investing who co-authored the famous book, Security Analysis, with David Dodd. Warren Buffett has described the book as a road map for investing that he has been following.
Recommended reading:
(1) The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Third Edition
