“It’s never too early to invest in a business.” So could begin a film that tells the story of billionaire Warren Buffett, who understood the value of business and investing from an early age.
“Opportunities come along rarely. When it rains gold go out into the street with a big basket and not a thimble.”
Warren Bufett, as the son of a stockbroker, was interested in business and investing from an early age; at age 7 he read “A Thousand Ways to Make $1,000,” a book he borrowed from the Omaha Public Library, and by age 14 he had that much in his possession.
What is Warren Buffet famous for?
Warren Buffet is not ranked sixth on Forbes magazine’s list just for having a business, but for being a good investor. And he surprised in the business world, making his fortune only by selling and buying shares of companies in the stock market with a modus operandi based on interesting purchases.
At just 12 years old, he made his first investment in partnership with his sister Doris; together they bought 3 shares of Cities Service Preferred (CISV) at $38.25 a share. However, the price fell to $27. However, Buffett held this investment until it reached $40, then sold them. CISV shares subsequently reached $200, so the young investor realized that if he had waited he could have made a profit of $500.
As he always proved, Warren was made for investments. He studied Business Administration at the University of Nebraska where he graduated at the age of 19. He went on to earn a Master of Science degree in economics from Columbia in 1951. After graduating, Buffett attended the New York Institute of Finance.
Shortly thereafter, he joined Buffett-Falk & Co. as an investment salesman. There he stayed until 1954 when he took a job as a securities analyst with the Benjamin Graham Society.
When Graham retired, Buffett took his personal savings and started Buffett Partnership Ltd. Studying various companies, he became interested in a textile company called Berkshire Hathaway. This acquisition would be a life-changing and life-changing investment opportunity for its original investors. During these years Warren Buffet’s experience and knowledge made him an assertive investor.
Buffett argues that investors should only buy stocks that they could hold forever. He has developed several succinct but incisive rules on the subject in his famous letters to shareholders. The most notable is: “Better to get a great company at a fair price than a “reasonable” company at a cheap price”.
Today Warren has become one of the most important investors in the United States. He is an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and has invested in companies such as See’s Candies and Geico Insurance Company, as well as the multinational Fruit of the Loom, a renowned textile company.
A life full of investments
Warren Buffett was born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska, was the second of three children and the only son of Leila and Howard Buffett, a stockbroker and later a congressman.
In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the U.S. Congress, so the family had to move to Washington, DC.
His interest in the stock market and investments was born during his childhood when he spent time in the customer lounge of a regional brokerage firm near his father’s brokerage office. That’s why when he traveled to New York City at age ten, Buffett insisted on visiting the New York Stock Exchange. And at age 11, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself and three for his sister Doris Buffett.
Much of Buffett’s early childhood years were enlivened with entrepreneurial ventures, such as selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola bottles and weekly magazines door-to-door. He also worked at his grandfather’s grocery store and, while still in high school, earned money delivering newspapers, selling golf balls, stamps, and cleaning cars, among other things.
He was only 14 years old when he bought a plot of land with $1,200 of his savings. By the time he finished college, Buffett had accumulated USD 9,800 in savings with this land (about USD 105,000 today).
On his first tax return in 1944, Buffett agreed to a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle. Gradually Buffett aimed higher, and in 1945, as a sophomore in high school he partnered with a friend. They spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barbershop. Within months, his small business already owned several machines in three different barber shops in Omaha. A year later they sold the business for $1,200 to a war veteran.
As a teenager Warren Buffett earned more than $175 a month delivering Washington Post newspapers. In which years later he would also invest in stocks.
As a young man he also invested in a business owned by his father and with the proceeds bought a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer. When he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947, his yearbook photo read, “likes math; a future stockbroker,” and the truth was not far off from his projections.
Warren Buffett’s legacy as an investor and as an entrepreneur is extensive and shows that you have to be vigilant not to miss opportunities.
In our blog you will find numerous articles on any topic!
HERE you can find many books about Warren Buffett!