Get to know Warren Buffett

Learning about and from Warren Buffett can improve your money management and investing results.

Buffett turns 92 this year, and he has been diligently making money for more than 80 years. He has topped lists of the richest people in both the United States and the world many times, though his fortune is smaller now than it would be if he hadn't been giving away billions for many years. The philanthropist — based in Omaha, Nebraska — donated more than $4 billion in 2021, and he has given away more than $46 billion over his lifetime. Still, his net worth was recently $93.4 billion.

How did he get so rich? Well, by investing. He started working hard when he was still a young boy, and he bought his first shares of stock at 11. In 1965, he became the majority owner of Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling textile company. That company didn't make him rich, but his various other investments did, and over time, he built Berkshire Hathaway into a massive conglomerate.

Today, Berkshire Hathaway encompasses many companies, such as Benjamin Moore, Brooks, Clayton Homes, Duracell, Forest River, Fruit of the Loom, GEICO Auto Insurance, International Dairy Queen, Justin Brands, McLane, NetJets, Pampered Chef, Precision Castparts, See's Candies, Shaw Industries and the entire BNSF railroad. It also has a sizable stock portfolio, recently owning about 20% of American Express, 12.5% of Bank of America, 9.2% of Coca-Cola and 5.5% of Apple — Berkshire's largest position.

Altogether, over 57 years, Buffett (with his business partner Charlie Munger) has grown Berkshire's value by an annual average of 20% per year, roughly double the growth rate of the S&P 500 — enough to turn a $1,000 investment into more than $34 million.

Clearly, Warren Buffett knows a thing or two about business and investing. He also likes to share what he knows, and you can learn a lot in his annual letters to shareholders (at BerkshireHathaway.com) and in books such as “Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2013” by Carol Loomis (Portfolio, $18).