Warren Buffett#Writings

Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska, as the second of three children and the only son of Leila (née Stahl) and Congressman Howard Buffett.{{cite news |last=Blair |first=Elliot |url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/2004-01-29-nebraska_x.htm |title=Nebraska family clashes over love, money and death |work=USA Today |date=January 29, 2004 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830080000/http://www.usatoday.com/money/2004-01-29-nebraska_x.htm |url-status=live }} He began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School. In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Congress, and after moving with his family to Washington, D.C., Warren finished elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School and graduated from what was then Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947, where his senior yearbook picture reads: "likes math; a future stockbroker".{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffetts-high-school-yearbook-foreshadowed-his-future-career-2012-6?IR=T|title=Warren Buffett's High School Yearbook Totally Nailed What He Would Be When He Grew Up|work=Business Insider|access-date=May 15, 2017|language=en|archive-date=August 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830144927/http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffetts-high-school-yearbook-foreshadowed-his-future-career-2012-6?IR=T|url-status=live}} After finishing high school and finding success with his side entrepreneurial and investment ventures, Buffett wanted to skip college to go directly into business but was overruled by his father.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmgzFy71zUkC&pg=PA29 | page=29 | title=The Warren Buffett Way | publisher=Wiley Publishers | access-date=May 6, 2016 | author=Robert G. Hagstrom | date=May 13, 2010 | isbn=978-0-470-89355-5 | archive-date=February 9, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209095054/https://books.google.com/books?id=xmgzFy71zUkC&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}{{cite book | title=The Essential Buffett: Timeless Principles for the New Economy | publisher=Wiley | author=Hagstrom, Robert | year=2001 | pages=24}}

Buffett showcased an interest in business and investing at a young age. He was inspired by a book he borrowed from the Omaha public library at age seven, One Thousand Ways to Make $1000.{{cite news|last1=Levere|first1=Jane|title=New HBO Documentary On Warren Buffett Uses Family Photos, Home Movies To Reveal His Life Story|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/janelevere/2017/01/30/new-hbo-documentary-on-warren-buffett-uses-family-photos-home-movies-to-reveal-his-life-story/|access-date=July 7, 2017|work=Forbes|date=January 30, 2017|quote=A voracious reader his entire life, at age seven he read a book he borrowed from the library, One Thousand Ways to Make $1000, and, inspired by its lessons, began selling Coca-Cola, gum and newspapers.|archive-date=September 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908184330/https://www.forbes.com/sites/janelevere/2017/01/30/new-hbo-documentary-on-warren-buffett-uses-family-photos-home-movies-to-reveal-his-life-story/|url-status=live}} Much of Buffett's early childhood years were enlivened with entrepreneurial ventures. In one of his first business ventures, Buffett sold chewing gum, Coca-Cola, and weekly magazines door to door. He worked in his grandfather's grocery store. While still in high school, he made money delivering newspapers, selling golf balls and stamps, and detailing cars, among other means. On his first income tax return in 1944, Buffett took a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7280569.stm|title=Buffett 'becomes world's richest'|access-date=May 20, 2008|publisher=BBC|date=March 6, 2008|archive-date=March 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309202609/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7280569.stm|url-status=live}} In 1945, as a high school sophomore, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barber shop. Within months, they owned several machines in three different barber shops across Omaha. They later sold the business to a war veteran for $1,200.{{cite web | url=http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/warrenbuffett/a/aawarrentimeln.htm | archive-url=https://archive.today/20040704091926/http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/warrenbuffett/a/aawarrentimeln.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 4, 2004 | title=Warren Buffett Timeline | publisher=About Money | access-date=April 30, 2015 }}

File:Benjamin Graham (1894-1976) in 1950.jpg was a major influential figure on the young Warren Buffett]]

Buffett's interest in the stock market and investing dated back to his schoolboy days spent in the customers' lounge of a regional stock brokerage near his father's own brokerage office. His father took interest in cultivating and educating the young Warren's curiosity surrounding the subject of business and investing, even at one point taking him to visit the New York Stock Exchange when he was 10.{{Cite book |last=Cross |first=Mary |title=100 People Who Changed 20th-Century America, Vol. 1 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-61069-085-0 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |pages=451 |language=en}} At 11, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself, and three for his sister Doris Buffett (who also became a philanthropist).{{cite journal |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0527/Doris-Buffett-works-one-on-one-to-help-with-billionaire-brother-s-charity |title=Doris Buffett works one-on-one to help with billionaire brother's charity, May 27, 2014 |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |date=May 27, 2014 |access-date=January 4, 2015 |archive-date=January 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104192338/http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0527/Doris-Buffett-works-one-on-one-to-help-with-billionaire-brother-s-charity |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.fool.com/specials/1999/sp990429Berkshire002.htm |title=Special Feature, April 29, 1999: Berkshire and Buffett |website=Fool.com |access-date=November 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714005229/http://www.fool.com/specials/1999/sp990429Berkshire002.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2010 }}{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OOZWykmT-KUC&pg=PA26| title=Warren Buffett wealth: principles and practical methods used by the world's greatest investor| author=Robert P. Miles| publisher=John Wiley and Sons| year=2004| isbn=978-0-471-46511-9| page=26| access-date=December 16, 2017| archive-date=February 9, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209095214/https://books.google.com/books?id=OOZWykmT-KUC&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false| url-status=live}} At 15, Warren made more than $175 monthly delivering Washington Post newspapers. In high school, he invested in a business owned by his father and bought a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer.{{Cite book |last1=Cai |first1=Charlie X. |title=The Experts and the Evidence: A Practical Guide to Stock Investing |last2=Keasey |first2=Kevin |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-119-84255-2 |location=West Sussex, UK |pages=11 |language=en}} He bought the land when he was 14 years old with $1,200 of his savings. By the time he finished college, Buffett had amassed $9,800 in savings (about ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|9800|1949|r=-3}}}} today).{{Inflation-fn|US}}

In 1947, Buffett matriculated at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He would have preferred to focus on his business ventures, but enrolled due to pressure from his father. Warren studied there for two years and joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.{{cite web|url=https://www.thedp.com/article/2012/09/alpha-sigma-phi-comes-back-to-penn|title=Alpha Sigma Phi comes back to Penn|first=Kate|last=Gheen|website=Thedp.com|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421141737/https://www.thedp.com/article/2012/09/alpha-sigma-phi-comes-back-to-penn|url-status=live}} He then transferred to the University of Nebraska where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1951.{{Cite web |date=2019-08-29 |title=Alumnus Warren Buffett Celebrates 89 Years |url=https://business.unl.edu/news/alumnus-warren-buffett-celebrates-89-years/?contentGroup=finance |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=College of Business, Finance |language=en}} After being rejected by Harvard Business School in the spring of 1950, Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School of Columbia University upon learning that Benjamin Graham taught there. He earned a Master of Science in economics from Columbia in 1951.{{Cite web |title=Buffett to provide send-off for Nebraska's December graduates {{!}} Nebraska Today |url=https://news.unl.edu/article/buffett-to-provide-send-off-for-nebraska-s-december-graduates |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=news.unl.edu}} After graduating, Buffett attended the New York Institute of Finance.{{Cite web|url=http://www.warrenbuffett.com/history/|title=History|website=Warrenbuffett.com|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221071042/http://www.warrenbuffett.com/history/|url-status=live}}

{{blockquote|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.{{harvnb|Hagstrom|2005|p=14 Warren Buffett is now the richest man in the world with $65 billion. GE Raises $15 billion; Buffett Gets Preferred Stake (Update3)}}{{Cite news | title = What Warren Buffett's cancer diagnosis can teach investors | last = Heath | first = Jason | work = Financial Post | date = April 24, 2012 | access-date = March 4, 2015 | url = http://business.financialpost.com/2012/04/24/what-warren-buffetts-cancer-diagnosis-can-teach-investors/ | archive-date = July 9, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130709192038/http://business.financialpost.com/2012/04/24/what-warren-buffetts-cancer-diagnosis-can-teach-investors/ | url-status = live }}{{Cite web | title = Who is Warren Buffett? | author = Cabot Heritage Corporation | publisher = NASDAQ | date = January 15, 2013 | access-date = March 4, 2015 | url = http://www.nasdaq.com/article/who-is-warren-buffett-cm207761 | archive-date = May 19, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150519074924/http://www.nasdaq.com/article/who-is-warren-buffett-cm207761 | url-status = live }}|Warren Buffett}}

{{Further|topic=Warren Buffett's time at Berkshire Hathaway|List of assets owned by Berkshire Hathaway||}}

Buffett worked from 1951 to 1954 at his father's firm, Buffett-Falk & Co., as an investment salesman; from 1954 to 1956 at Graham-Newman Corp. as a securities analyst; from 1956 to 1969 at several investment partnerships as the general partner; and from 1970 as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

In 1951, Buffett discovered that Graham was on the board of GEICO insurance. Taking a train to Washington, D.C., on a Saturday, he knocked on the door of GEICO's headquarters until a janitor admitted him. There he met Lorimer Davidson, GEICO's vice president, and the two discussed the insurance business for hours, and Buffett made his first purchase of GEICO stock.{{Cite web|title=GEICO's Story From the Beginning {{!}} GEICO|url=https://www.geico.com/about/corporate/history-the-full-story/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215073831/https://www.geico.com/about/corporate/history-the-full-story/|archive-date=February 15, 2020|access-date=November 16, 2020|website=www.geico.com}} Davidson would eventually become Buffett's lifelong friend and a lasting influence,{{cite book|author=Lowenstein, Roger|title=Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist|year=1996|page=43|publisher=Doubleday |isbn=0-385-48491-7}} and would later recall that he found Buffett to be an "extraordinary man" after only fifteen minutes. Buffett wanted to work on Wall Street but both his father and Ben Graham urged him not to. He offered to work for Graham for free, but Graham refused.{{cite web |url=http://www.intelligentinvestorclub.com/downloads/Warren-Buffett-Florida-Speech.pdf |title=Lecture at the University of Florida School of Business – Transcript (PDF document) |publisher=Intelligent Investor |date=October 15, 1998 |access-date=May 7, 2010 |archive-date=October 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011074550/http://www.intelligentinvestorclub.com/downloads/Warren-Buffett-Florida-Speech.pdf |url-status=live }}

Buffett returned to Omaha and worked as a stockbroker while taking a Dale Carnegie public speaking course.{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/person-to-person-warren-buffett/ | publisher=CBS News | title="Person to Person": Warren Buffett | access-date=April 17, 2020 | archive-date=November 20, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120093220/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505383_162-57373393/person-to-person-warren-buffett/ | url-status=live }} Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach an "Investment Principles" night class at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The average age of his students was more than twice his own. During this time he also purchased a Sinclair gas station as a side investment but it was unsuccessful.{{cite book | first=Alice | last=Schroeder | author-link=Alice Schroeder | title=The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life | page=169 | publisher=Bantam Dell | date=2008 | isbn=978-0-553-80509-3}}

In 1954, Buffett accepted a job at Benjamin Graham's partnership. His starting salary was $12,000 a year (about ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|12000|1954|r=-3}}}} today).{{Inflation-fn|US}} There he worked closely with Walter Schloss. Graham was adamant that stock picks should provide a wide margin of safety after weighing the trade-off between their price and their intrinsic value. In 1956, Benjamin Graham retired and closed his partnership. At this time Buffett, who had amassed personal savings over $174,000 (about ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|0.174|1956|r=2}}}} million today){{Inflation-fn|US}}, decided to return to Omaha, where he would quickly start a series of investment partnerships.

In 1957, Buffett operated three investment partnerships. By 1959, the total had grown to six partnerships. That summer, Buffett was introduced to his future partner Charlie Munger during a business luncheon at The Omaha Club.Schroeder, Alice (2008). The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. Bantam Dell. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-553-80509-3. In 1961, Buffett revealed that 35% of the partnership's assets were invested in the Sanborn Map Company. He explained that Sanborn stock sold for only $45 per share in 1958, but the company's investment portfolio was worth $65 per share. This meant that Sanborn's map business was being valued at "minus $20". Buffett eventually purchased 23% of the company's outstanding shares as an activist investor, obtaining a seat for himself on the board of directors, and allied with other dissatisfied shareholders to control 44% of the shares. To avoid a proxy fight, the board offered to repurchase shares at fair value, paying with a portion of its investment portfolio. 77% of the outstanding shares were turned in.Buffett, Warren. "Letter from Warren Buffett to Partners, 1960".{{cite web|title=Buffett Partnership Letter Series – 1960 (Part 2)|url=http://www.nasdaq.com/article/buffett-partnership-letter-series-1960-part-2-cm187712|website=NASDAQ|language=en-us|date=November 6, 2012|access-date=November 5, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107002721/http://www.nasdaq.com/article/buffett-partnership-letter-series-1960-part-2-cm187712|url-status=live}} Buffett had reaped a 50 percent return on investment in just two years.{{cite book|last1=Lowenstein|first1=Roger|title=Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist|date=1995|publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks|location=New York|isbn=9780804150606|pages=65–66|edition=2008 Trade Paperback}}

In 1962, Buffett became a millionaire with the success of his partnerships, which by then had grown to 11 entities and held in excess of $7,178,500, of which over $1,025,000 belonged to Buffett. At the start of the year, he merged the various partnerships into the single entity Buffett Partnership, Ltd., which would be his primary investment vehicle for the remainder of the decade.{{cite book | first=Alice | last=Schroeder | author-link=Alice Schroeder | title=The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life | page=240 | publisher=Bantam Dell | date=2008 | isbn=978-0-553-80509-3}} Buffett invested in and eventually took control of a textile manufacturing company, Berkshire Hathaway. He began buying shares in Berkshire from Seabury Stanton, the owner, whom he later fired. Buffett's partnerships began purchasing shares at $7.60 per share. In 1965, when Buffett's partnerships began purchasing Berkshire aggressively, they paid $14.86 per share while the company had working capital of $19 per share. This did not include the value of fixed assets (factory and equipment). Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway at a board meeting and named a new president, Ken Chace, to run the company. In 1966, Buffett closed the partnership to new money. He later claimed that the textile business had been his worst trade.{{cite AV media |title=Buffett's Worst Trade |date=October 18, 2010 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2010/10/18/cnbc-transcript-warren-buffetts-200b-berkshire-blunder-and-the-valuable-lesson-he-learned.html |publisher=CNBC |access-date=September 18, 2017 |archive-date=September 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929000257/https://www.cnbc.com/id/39724884 |url-status=live }} He then moved the business into the insurance sector, and, in 1985, the last of the mills that had been the core business of Berkshire Hathaway was sold.

In a second letter, Buffett announced his first investment in a private business — Hochschild, Kohn and Co, a privately owned Baltimore department store. In 1967, Berkshire paid out its first and only dividend of 10 cents.{{cite book|author=Graham Kenny|title=Diversification Strategy: How to Grow a Business by Diversifying Successfully|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=PRrbeA_e0egC|page=160}}|date=August 3, 2009|publisher=Kogan Page Publishers|isbn=978-0-7494-5833-1|pages=160}} In 1969, Buffett liquidated the partnership and transferred their assets to his partners including shares of Berkshire Hathaway. He lived solely on his salary of $50,000 per year and his outside investment income.

In 1973, Berkshire began to acquire stock in the Washington Post Company. Buffett became close friends with Katharine Graham, who controlled the company and its flagship newspaper and joined its board. In 1974, the SEC opened a formal investigation into Buffett and Berkshire's acquisition of Wesco Financial, due to possible conflict of interest. No charges were brought. In 1977, Berkshire indirectly purchased the Buffalo Evening News for $32.5 million. Antitrust charges started, instigated by its rival, the Buffalo Courier-Express. Both papers lost money until the Courier-Express folded in 1982.

In 1979, Berkshire began to acquire stock in ABC. Capital Cities announced a $3.5 billion purchase of ABC on March 18, 1985, surprising the media industry, as ABC was four times bigger than Capital Cities at the time. Buffett helped finance the deal in return for a 25% stake in the combined company.Kleinfield, N.R. [https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/19/business/abc-is-being-sold-for-3.5-billion-1st-network-sale.html "ABC is being sold for $3.5 billion; 1st network sale"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822134344/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/19/business/abc-is-being-sold-for-3.5-billion-1st-network-sale.html |date=August 22, 2017 }}. The New York Times, March 19, 1985. The newly merged company, known as Capital Cities/ABC (or CapCities/ABC), was forced to sell some stations due to Federal Communications Commission ownership rules. The two companies also owned several radio stations in the same markets.[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1985/BC-1985-03-25.pdf#page=31 "Capcities + ABC"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609112019/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1985/BC-1985-03-25.pdf#page=31 |date=June 9, 2020 }}. Broadcasting, March 25, 1985, pp. 31–35.

In 1987, Berkshire Hathaway purchased a 12% stake in Salomon Inc., making it the largest shareholder and Buffett a director. In 1990, a scandal involving John Gutfreund (former CEO of Salomon Brothers) surfaced. A rogue trader, Paul Mozer, was submitting bids in excess of what was allowed by Treasury rules. When this was brought to Gutfreund's attention, he did not immediately suspend the rogue trader. Gutfreund left the company in August 1991.{{cite web |url=http://mbaa.fuqua.duke.edu/ldi/press_johngutfreund.html |title=Inaction Can be as Dangerous as Bad Action, Aly Gonenne, Class of 2004, Duke Leadership Development Initiative |website=Mbaa.fuqua.duke.edu |access-date=May 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618163023/http://mbaa.fuqua.duke.edu/ldi/press_johngutfreund.html |archive-date=June 18, 2010 }} Buffett became chairman of Salomon until the crisis passed.{{cite web |title=Securities Trading Investigation |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?21029-1/securities-trading-investigation |website=C-SPAN |access-date=June 23, 2020 |date=September 4, 1991 |archive-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623082539/https://www.c-span.org/video/?21029-1%2Fsecurities-trading-investigation |url-status=live }} In 1988, Buffett began buying The Coca-Cola Company stock, eventually purchasing up to 7% of the company for $1.02 billion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thebalance.com/warren-buffett-biography-356436|title=Learn About the Life and Business of Billionaire, Warren Buffett|work=The Balance|access-date=March 3, 2017|archive-date=March 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114440/https://www.thebalance.com/warren-buffett-biography-356436|url-status=live}} It would turn out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments and one which it still holds.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/13/8-warren-buffett-deals-that-won-big.aspx|title=8 Warren Buffett Deals That Won Big|last=CFP|first=Matthew Frankel|date=November 13, 2017|website=The Motley Fool|language=en|access-date=September 5, 2019|archive-date=September 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905113500/https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/13/8-warren-buffett-deals-that-won-big.aspx|url-status=live}}

In 1998 Buffett acquired General Re (Gen Re) as a subsidiary in a deal that presented difficulties — according to the Rational Walk investment website, "underwriting standards proved to be inadequate", while a "problematic derivatives book" was resolved after numerous years and a significant loss.{{cite web|title=General Re Settlement in AIG Case Closes Difficult Chapter|url=http://www.rationalwalk.com/?p=4444|website=The Rational Walk|access-date=August 16, 2014|date=January 21, 2010|archive-date=July 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723062100/http://www.rationalwalk.com/?p=4444|url-status=live}} Gen Re later provided reinsurance after Buffett became involved with Maurice R. Greenberg at AIG in 2002.{{cite web|author1=Warren E. Buffett|title=Berkshire's Corporate Performance vs. the S&P 500|url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2002pdf.pdf|website=Berkshire Hathaway|access-date=August 16, 2014|date=February 21, 2003|archive-date=September 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928114052/http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2002pdf.pdf|url-status=live}}

File:P071811PS-0254 (5951720542).jpg at the White House in July 2011]]

During a 2005 investigation of an accounting fraud case involving AIG, Gen Re executives became implicated. On March 15, 2005, the AIG board forced Greenberg to resign from his post as chairman and CEO after New York state regulators claimed that AIG had engaged in questionable transactions and improper accounting.{{cite web|author1=Diane Brady, Marcia Vickers, Mike McNamee|title=AIG: What Went Wrong|url=http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2005-04-10/aig-what-went-wrong|website=Bloomberg Businessweek|publisher=Bloomberg LP|access-date=August 16, 2014|date=April 10, 2005|archive-date=September 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916093151/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2005-04-10/aig-what-went-wrong|url-status=live}} On February 9, 2006, AIG agreed to pay a $1.6 billion fine.{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2006-19.htm |title=AIG to Pay $800 Million to Settle Securities Fraud Charges by SEC; Over $1.6 billion to be Paid to Resolve Federal and New York State Actions |date=February 9, 2006 |publisher=Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=September 18, 2017 |archive-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610024001/https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2006-19.htm |url-status=live }} In 2010, the U.S. government agreed to a $92 million settlement with Gen Re, allowing the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary to avoid prosecution in the AIG case. Gen Re also made a commitment to implement "corporate governance concessions", which required Berkshire Hathaway's chief financial officer to attend General Re's audit committee meetings and mandated the appointment of an independent director.

In 2002, Buffett entered in $11 billion worth of forward contracts to deliver U.S. dollars against other currencies. By April 2006, his total gain on these contracts was over $2 billion. Buffett announced in June 2006 that he would gradually give away 85% of his Berkshire holdings to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, starting in July 2006—the largest contribution going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.{{cite journal|first=Carol J.|last=Loomis|title=Warren Buffett gives away his fortune|journal=Fortune|date=June 25, 2006}} In 2007, in a letter to shareholders, Buffett announced that he was looking for a younger successor, or perhaps successors, to run his investment business.{{cite web|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2916457&page=1|title=HELP WANTED: Warren Buffett Replacement|publisher=ABC News|archive-date=May 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522123333/http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2916457&page=1|url-status=live}}

Buffett ran into criticism during the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 and 2008, part of the Great Recession starting in 2007, that he had allocated capital too early resulting in suboptimal deals.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2008/10/27/wsj-to-warren-buffett-time-to-get-a-new-crystal-ball.html|title=WSJ to Warren Buffett: "Time to Get a New Crystal Ball"|publisher=CNBC|access-date=May 20, 2008|author=Crippen, Alex|archive-date=June 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610235351/http://www.cnbc.com/id/27400058|url-status=live}} "Buy American. I am." he wrote for an opinion piece published in the New York Times in 2008.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html|title=Buy American. I am.|last=Buffett|first=Warren E.|date=October 16, 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 25, 2012|archive-date=November 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126194447/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html|url-status=live}} Buffett called the downturn in the financial sector that started in 2007 "poetic justice".{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN0631767220080207|title=Buffett: Bank woes are "poetic justice"|date=February 7, 2008|work=Reuters|access-date=May 20, 2008|author=Dabrowski, Wojtek|archive-date=February 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214214315/http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN0631767220080207|url-status=live}} Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway suffered a 77% drop in earnings during Q3 2008 and several of his later deals suffered large mark-to-market losses.{{cite web|url=http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2008/11/10/95403.htm|title=Even Buffett Can't Escape Markets, Storms; Berkshire Profit Falls 77%|work=Insurance Journal|date=November 9, 2008|access-date=November 14, 2008|archive-date=February 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224202007/http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2008/11/10/95403.htm|url-status=live}}

On September 23, 2008, Berkshire Hathaway acquired 10 percent of perpetual preferred stock of Goldman Sachs.{{cite web|url=http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/press/press-releases/current/berkshire-hathaway-invest.html|title=Berkshire Hathaway to Invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs|publisher=Goldman Sachs|access-date=November 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220053032/http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/press/press-releases/current/berkshire-hathaway-invest.html|archive-date=December 20, 2008|author=Press Release}} Some of Buffett's put options (European exercise at expiry only) that he wrote (sold) were running at around $6.73 billion mark-to-market losses as of late 2008.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4AN8BQ20081124|title=Buffett to disclose more on derivatives|last=Stempel|first=Jonathan|date=November 24, 2008|work=Reuters|access-date=November 27, 2008|archive-date=December 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203091716/http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4AN8BQ20081124|url-status=live}} The scale of the potential loss prompted the SEC to demand that Berkshire produce, "a more robust disclosure" of factors used to value the contracts. Buffett also helped Dow Chemical pay for its $18.8 billion takeover of Rohm & Haas. He thus became the single largest shareholder in the enlarged group with his Berkshire Hathaway, which provided $3 billion, underlining his instrumental role during the crisis in debt and equity markets.{{cite web|url=http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/07/11/14430/buffett-helps-dow-pay-19bn-for-rh/|title=ftalphaville.ft.com, Buffett helps Dow pay $19bn for R&H|last=Fontanella|first=James|date=July 11, 2008|work=Financial Times|access-date=February 23, 2009|archive-date=March 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313160809/http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/07/11/14430/buffett-helps-dow-pay-19bn-for-rh|url-status=live}}

In 2008, Buffett became the richest person in the world, garnering a total net worth estimated at $62 billion{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Warren-Buffett_C0R3.html|title=#1 Warren Buffett|date=March 5, 2008|work=Forbes|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-date=February 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211211110/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Warren-Buffett_C0R3.html|url-status=live}} by Forbes and at $58 billion{{cite news|url=https://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20081010/tc_nm/us_buffett_forbes|title=Buffett overtakes Gates to top new Forbes list|date=October 10, 2008|agency=Reuters|access-date=October 10, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014182749/http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20081010/tc_nm/us_buffett_forbes|archive-date=October 14, 2008}} by Yahoo, dethroning Bill Gates, who had been number one on the Forbes list for 13 consecutive years.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html|title=The World's Billionaires|date=March 5, 2008|work=Forbes|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-date=November 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109212047/https://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html|url-status=live}} In 2009, Gates regained the top position on the Forbes list, with Buffett shifted to second place. Both of the men's values dropped, to $40 billion and $37 billion respectively—according to Forbes, Buffett lost $25 billion over a 12-month period during 2008/2009.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/10/billionaires-2009-richest-people_Warren-Buffett_C0R3.html|title=#2 Warren Buffett – The World's Billionaires 2009|date=February 13, 2009|work=Forbes|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=June 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602135713/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/10/billionaires-2009-richest-people_Warren-Buffett_C0R3.html|url-status=dead}}

In October 2008, the media reported that Buffett had agreed to buy General Electric (GE) preferred stock.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/01/warrenbuffett.generalelectric|title=Warren Buffett to buy $3bn of General Electric preferred stock|last=Clark|first=Andrew|date=October 1, 2008|work=The Guardian|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=September 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915193425/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/01/warrenbuffett.generalelectric|url-status=live}} The operation included special incentives: he received an option to buy three billion shares of GE stock, at $22.25, over the five years following the agreement, and Buffett also received a 10% dividend (callable within three years). In February 2009, Buffett sold some Procter & Gamble Co. and Johnson & Johnson shares from his personal portfolio.{{cite web|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/news/berkshire-sells-johnson-&-johnson-procter-&-gamble/425035/|title=Berkshire Hathaway unloads J&J and P&G|date=February 17, 2009|work=The Financial Express|access-date=February 23, 2009|archive-date=October 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015073021/http://www.financialexpress.com/news/berkshire-sells-johnson-%26-johnson-procter-%26-gamble/425035|url-status=live}} In addition to suggestions of mistiming, the wisdom in keeping some of Berkshire's major holdings, including The Coca-Cola Company, which in 1998 peaked at $86, raised questions. Buffett discussed the difficulties of knowing when to sell in the company's 2004 annual report:

That may seem easy to do when one looks through an always-clean, rear-view mirror. Unfortunately, however, it's the windshield through which investors must peer, and that glass is invariably fogged.Schroeder, Alice The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life {{ISBN|0-553-80509-6}} Bantam Sept 2008

In March 2009, Buffett said in a cable television interview that the economy had "fallen off a cliff ... Not only has the economy slowed down a lot, but people have really changed their habits like I haven't seen". Additionally, Buffett feared that inflation levels that occurred in the 1970s—which led to years of painful stagflation—might re-emerge.Josh Funk, [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008830635_apbuffetteconomy.html "Buffett says nation will face higher unemployment"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622091745/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008830635_apbuffetteconomy.html |date=June 22, 2011 }}, AP on Seattle Times, March 9, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2010.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29593426 "Buffett: The economy has 'fallen off a cliff'"], MSN, March 9, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.

In 2009, Buffett invested $2.6 billion as a part of Swiss Re's campaign to raise equity capital.{{cite journal| url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/05/swiss-re-buffett-markets-equity-0205_insurance_08.html| title=Buffett Sinks Billions Into Swiss Re| journal=Forbes| author=Lionel Laurent| date=February 5, 2009| access-date=September 18, 2017| archive-date=October 20, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020141952/https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/05/swiss-re-buffett-markets-equity-0205_insurance_08.html| url-status=dead}}{{cite journal | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/business/worldbusiness/06swiss.html?ref=business | title=Swiss Re Gets $2.6 billion From Berkshire Hathaway | first=David | last=Jolly | date=February 5, 2009 | journal=The New York Times | access-date=February 20, 2017 | archive-date=July 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701074431/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/business/worldbusiness/06swiss.html?ref=business | url-status=live }} Berkshire Hathaway already owned a 3% stake, with rights to own more than 20%.{{cite journal| url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8099d660-f354-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html| title=Swiss Re turns to Buffett for new funding| journal=Financial Times| date=February 5, 2009| author=Haig Simonian, Francesco Guerrera| access-date=March 17, 2009| archive-date=August 29, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829051330/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8099d660-f354-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html| url-status=live}} Also in 2009, Buffett acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. for $34 billion in cash and stock. Alice Schroeder, author of Snowball, said that a key reason for the purchase was to diversify Berkshire Hathaway from the financial industry.{{cite web |url=http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=76366 |title=Alice Schroeder on Buffett and BNI; Which Company Will Berkshire Hathaway Acquire Next? |website=GuruFocus.com |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=November 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122092117/http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=76366 |url-status=live }} Measured by market capitalization in the Financial Times Global 500, Berkshire Hathaway was the eighteenth largest corporation in the world as of June 2009.FTGlobal500.pdf June 2009, Financial Times

In 2009, Buffett divested his failed investment in ConocoPhillips, saying to his Berkshire investors,

I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current $40–$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong. Even if prices should rise, moreover, the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars.{{cite web |url=http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=50143 |title=Warren Buffett's Multi-Billion Mistake with ConocoPhillips (COP) |website=Gurufocus.com |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304110626/http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=50143 |url-status=live }}

The merger with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) closed upon BNSF shareholder approval during Q1 of 2010. This deal was valued at approximately $44 billion (with $10 billion of outstanding BNSF debt) and represented an increase of the previously existing stake of 22%.{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-burlingtonnorthern-berkshire/buffett-buying-burlington-rail-in-his-biggest-deal-idUSTRE5A22A720091103 | title=Buffett buying Burlington rail in his biggest deal | work=Reuters | access-date=June 24, 2019 | archive-date=June 23, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623193147/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-burlingtonnorthern-berkshire/buffett-buying-burlington-rail-in-his-biggest-deal-idUSTRE5A22A720091103 | url-status=live }}{{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091103005847/en/Berkshire-Hathaway-Acquire-Burlington-Northern-Santa-Fe | title=Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to Acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) for $100 Per Share in Cash and Stock | publisher=Business Wire | access-date=June 24, 2019 | archive-date=June 23, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623193145/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091103005847/en/Berkshire-Hathaway-Acquire-Burlington-Northern-Santa-Fe | url-status=live }}

In June 2010, Buffett defended the credit-rating agencies for their role in the U.S. financial crisis, claiming:

Very, very few people could appreciate the bubble. That's the nature of bubbles—they're mass delusions.{{cite web|url=http://www.insideireland.ie/index.cfm/section/news/ext/buffett001/category/1084 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120802082928/http://www.insideireland.ie/index.cfm/section/news/ext/buffett001/category/1084 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 2, 2012 |title=Credit rating agencies not to blame for crisis says Buffett |website=Insideireland.ie |date=June 3, 2010 |access-date=November 28, 2010 }}

On March 18, 2011, Goldman Sachs was given Federal Reserve approval to buy back Berkshire's preferred stock in Goldman. Buffett had been reluctant to give up the stock, which averaged $1.4 million in dividends per day,{{cite news |title=Berkshire Will Not Exercise Goldman Sachs Warrants Immediately |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2011/03/20/berkshire-will-not-exercise-goldman-sachs-warrants-immediately.html |first=Becky |last=Quick |date=March 20, 2011 |publisher=CNBC |access-date=May 4, 2011 |archive-date=October 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015102903/http://www.cnbc.com/id/42176113/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Goldman Sachs to Pay $5.65 billion to Redeem Buffett's Stake |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-18/goldman-sachs-to-pay-5-65-billion-to-redeem-buffett-s-stake.html |first=Christine |last=Harper |date=March 18, 2011 |work=Business Week |access-date=May 4, 2011 |archive-date=April 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424081417/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-18/goldman-sachs-to-pay-5-65-billion-to-redeem-buffett-s-stake.html |url-status=live }} saying:

I'm going to be the Osama bin Laden of capitalism. I'm on my way to an unknown destination in Asia where I'm going to look for a cave. If the U.S. Armed forces can't find Osama bin Laden in 10 years, let Goldman Sachs try to find me.{{cite news |title=Where Will Warren Buffett Hide From Goldman Sachs? |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2011/03/20/where-will-warren-buffett-hide-from-goldman-sachs.html |first=Becky |last=Quick |date=March 20, 2011 |publisher=CNBC |access-date=May 4, 2011 |archive-date=October 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015102922/http://www.cnbc.com/id/42178304 |url-status=live }}

In November 2011, it was announced that over the course of the previous eight months, Buffett had bought 64 million shares of International Business Machine Corp (IBM) stock, worth around $11 billion. This unanticipated investment raised his stake in the company to around 5.5 percent—the largest stake in IBM alongside that of State Street Global Advisors. Buffett had said on numerous prior occasions that he would not invest in technology because he did not fully understand it, so the move came as a surprise to many investors and observers. During the interview, in which he revealed the investment to the public, Buffett stated that he was impressed by the company's ability to retain corporate clients and said, "I don't know of any large company that really has been as specific on what they intend to do and how they intend to do it as IBM".{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-buffett-ibm-idUSTRE7AD0V720111114 |title=Buffett sheds tech aversion with big IBM investment |date=November 14, 2011 |work=Reuters |access-date=July 3, 2017 |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017084318/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/14/us-buffett-ibm-idUSTRE7AD0V720111114 |url-status=live }}

In May 2012, Buffett's acquisition of Media General, consisting of 63 newspapers in the south-eastern U.S., was announced.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18107508 |title=Warren Buffett invests in Media General newspapers |date=May 17, 2012 |work=BBC News |access-date=May 25, 2012 |archive-date=May 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520044209/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18107508 |url-status=live }} The company was the second news print purchase made by Buffett in one year.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/17/warren-buffett-buys-media-general |title=Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway buys Media General newspaper group |date=May 17, 2012 |work=The Guardian |access-date=May 25, 2012 |location=London |first=Dominic |last=Rushe |archive-date=September 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922035348/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/17/warren-buffett-buys-media-general |url-status=live }} Interim publisher James W. Hopson announced on July 18, 2013, that the Press of Atlantic City would be sold to Buffett's BH Media Group by ABARTA, a private holding company based in Pittsburgh, U.S. At the Berkshire shareholders meeting in May 2013, Buffett explained that he did not expect to "move the needle" at Berkshire with newspaper acquisitions, but he anticipates an annual return of 10 percent. The Press of Atlantic City became Berkshire's 30th daily newspaper, following other purchases such as Virginia, U.S.' Roanoke Times and The Tulsa World in Oklahoma, U.S.{{cite news |title=Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bets on Atlantic City |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/07/18/warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-bets-on-atlantic-city.html |access-date=September 20, 2013 |work=CNBC News |date=July 18, 2013 |first=Alex |last=Crippen |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055845/http://www.cnbc.com/id/100896864 |url-status=live }}

During a presentation to Georgetown University students in Washington, D.C., in late September 2013, Buffett compared the U.S. Federal Reserve to a hedge fund and stated that the bank is generating "$80 billion or $90 billion a year probably" in revenue for the U.S. government. Buffett also advocated further on the issue of wealth equality in society:

We have learned to turn out lots of goods and services, but we haven't learned as well how to have everybody share in the bounty. The obligation of a society as prosperous as ours is to figure out how nobody gets left too far behind.{{cite news |title=Buffett Calls Federal Reserve History's Greatest Hedge Fund |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/buffett-says-federal-reserve-is-greatest-hedge-fund-in-history.html |access-date=September 20, 2013 |work=Bloomberg |date=September 20, 2013 |first=Noah |last=Buhayar |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921013250/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/buffett-says-federal-reserve-is-greatest-hedge-fund-in-history.html |url-status=live }}

After the difficulties of the economic crisis, Buffett managed to bring its company back to its pre-recession standards: in Q2 2014, Berkshire Hathaway made $6.4 billion in net profit, the most it had ever made in a three-month period.{{cite news |url=http://qz.com/244132/warren-buffetts-firm-just-made-the-most-money-ever-in-a-single-quarter/ |title=Warren Buffett's firm just made the most money ever in a single quarter |date=August 2, 2014 |access-date=August 21, 2014 |archive-date=August 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817221540/http://qz.com/244132/warren-buffetts-firm-just-made-the-most-money-ever-in-a-single-quarter/ |url-status=live }} On August 14, 2014, the price of Berkshire Hathaway's shares hit $200,000 a share for the first time, capitalizing the company at $328 billion. While Buffett had given away much of his stock to charities by this time, he still held 321,000 shares worth $64.2 billion. On August 20, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway was fined $896,000 for failing to report as required the December 9, 2013 purchase of shares in USG Corporation.{{Cite news |last=Stempel |first=Jonathan |date=August 20, 2014 |title=UPDATE 3-U.S. fines Berkshire over stock deal, Buffett admits mistake |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/berkshirehathaway-settlement-idUSL2N0QQ1LR20140820 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017084318/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/20/berkshirehathaway-settlement-idUSL2N0QQ1LR20140820 |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |access-date=August 21, 2014 |work=Reuters}}

A 2023 ProPublica article based on a leak of confidential IRS data alleged that Buffett had made equity trades in his personal portfolio involving companies that Berkshire Hathaway bought or sold during the same quarter or the quarter before, raising concerns about conflicts of interest. On three dates between 2009 and 2012, Buffett sold shares of Johnson and Johnson, Walmart, and Wells Fargo, with the sales totaling $80 million in value.{{Cite web |last=Simani |first=Robert Faturechi, Ellis |date=2023-11-09 |title=How Warren Buffett Privately Traded in Stocks That Berkshire Hathaway Was Buying and Selling |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/warren-buffett-privately-traded-stocks-berkshire-hathaway-ethics-irs |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=ProPublica |language=en |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118234342/https://www.propublica.org/article/warren-buffett-privately-traded-stocks-berkshire-hathaway-ethics-irs |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Rosen |first1=Phil |title=Warren Buffett Reportedly Traded Millions of Dollars Worth of Stocks That Berkshire Hathaway Was Buying and Selling |url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-stocks-investors-propublica-finance-wall-street-2023-11 |publisher=Business Insider |date=November 10, 2023 |access-date=2024-01-25 |archive-date=January 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126045703/https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-stocks-investors-propublica-finance-wall-street-2023-11 |url-status=live }} Although Buffett has not commented, Berkshire Hathaway's Vice Chairman Charlie Munger dismissed the allegations, saying "I don’t think there’s the slightest chance that Warren Buffett is doing something that is deeply evil to make money for himself."{{Cite web |last=Pound |first=Jesse |date=2023-11-16 |title=Charlie Munger says there isn't the slightest chance Buffett traded own account to enrich himself |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/16/charlie-munger-says-there-isnt-the-slightest-chance-buffett-traded-own-account-to-enrich-himself.html |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=CNBC |language=en |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207185123/https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/16/charlie-munger-says-there-isnt-the-slightest-chance-buffett-traded-own-account-to-enrich-himself.html |url-status=live }}

At Berkshire Hathaway's investor conference on May 3, 2025, Buffett requested that the board appoint Greg Abel to succeed him as CEO of the company by the end of the year.{{Cite news |last=Foley |first=Stephen |last2=Pollard |first2=Amelia |date=2025-05-03 |title=Warren Buffett to step down from Berkshire Hathaway after six decades |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2d8a6430-574b-4941-a120-f9e204639948 |access-date=2025-05-03 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite news |last=Bedigan |first=Mike |date=2025-05-03 |title=Warren Buffett shocks investors by announcing retirement from Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/warren-buffett-retiring-berkshire-hathaway-b2744397.html |access-date=2025-05-03 |work=The Independent}} On May 5, 2025, the company announced the appointment of Abel as president and CEO, effective January 1, 2026, with Buffett remaining chairman.{{cite web |title=For Immediate Release |url=https://berkshirehathaway.com/news/may0525.pdf |publisher=Berkshire Hathaway |access-date=May 5, 2025 |date=May 5, 2025}}

Buffett's writings include his annual reports and various articles. Buffett is recognized by communicatorsLou Hoffman, The Hoffman Agency. "[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100823075903/http://entrepreneur.venturebeat.com/2010/04/13/startup-lessons-learned-from-warren-buffett/ Startup lessons learned from Warren Buffett]." April 13, 2010. Retrieved, April 16, 2010. as a great story-teller, as evidenced by his annual letters to shareholders. He has warned about the pernicious effects of inflation:How Inflation Swindles the Equity Investor, Warren Buffett, Fortune, May 1977

{{blockquote|The arithmetic makes it plain that inflation is a far more devastating tax than anything that has been enacted by our legislatures. The inflation tax has a fantastic ability to simply consume capital. It makes no difference to a widow with her savings in a 5 percent passbook account whether she pays 100 percent income tax on her interest income during a period of zero inflation, or pays no income taxes during years of 5 percent inflation.|Buffett|Fortune (1977)}}

In his article, "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville", Buffett rebutted the academic efficient-market hypothesis, that beating the S&P 500 was "pure chance", by highlighting the results achieved by a number of students of the Graham and Dodd value investing school of thought. In addition to himself, Buffett named Walter J. Schloss, Tom Knapp, Ed Anderson (Tweedy, Browne LLC), William J. Ruane (Sequoia Fund), Charlie Munger (Buffett's partner at Berkshire), Rick Guerin (Pacific Partners Ltd.), and Stan Perlmeter (Perlmeter Investments).{{cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/official-buffett-biography-to-hit-shelves/|title=Official Buffett Biography to Hit Shelves|date=August 12, 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 15, 2008|archive-date=July 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719160643/http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/official-buffett-biography-to-hit-shelves/|url-status=live}} In his November 1999 Fortune article, he warned of investors' unrealistic expectations:{{cite journal|date=November 22, 1999|title=Mr. Buffett on the Stock Market|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/11/22/269071/index.htm|journal=Fortune |author=Warren Buffett |author2=Carol Loomis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991127120937/http://www.pathfinder.com/fortune/1999/11/22/buf.html|archive-date=November 27, 1999|volume=140|issue=10|access-date=September 12, 2019|url-status=live}}

{{blockquote|Let me summarize what I've been saying about the stock market: I think it's very hard to come up with a persuasive case that equities will over the next 17 years perform anything like—anything like—they've performed in the past 17. If I had to pick the most probable return, from appreciation and dividends combined, that investors in aggregate—repeat, aggregate—would earn in a world of constant interest rates, 2% inflation, and those ever hurtful frictional costs, it would be 6%!|Buffett|Fortune (1999)}}

{{see also|Jeffrey Tarrant#Buffett bet}}

Buffett has been a supporter of index funds for people who are either not interested in managing their own money or do not have the time. Buffett is skeptical that active management can outperform the market in the long run, and has advised both individual and institutional investors to move their money to low-cost index funds that track broad, diversified stock market indices. Buffett said in one of his letters to shareholders that "when trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it will usually be the managers who reap outsized profits, not the clients".{{cite news|title=Warren Buffett, 'Oracle of Omaha', criticizes Wall Street and praises immigrants|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/25/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-wall-street-apple-annual-letter|work=Reuters via the Guardian|date=February 25, 2017|access-date=March 1, 2017|archive-date=March 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301071713/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/25/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-wall-street-apple-annual-letter|url-status=live}} In 2007, Buffett made a bet with numerous managers that a simple S&P 500 index fund will outperform hedge funds that charge exorbitant fees. By 2017, the index fund was outperforming every hedge fund that made the bet against Buffett.

Buffet has a long-standing aversion to using the services of investment banks via Berkshire Hathaway.{{Cite news |last=Gelles |first=David |date=February 28, 2015 |title=Warren Buffett Rails Against Investment Bankers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/business/dealbook/warren-buffett-rails-against-investment-bankers.html |access-date=April 26, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426193349/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/business/dealbook/warren-buffett-rails-against-investment-bankers.html |url-status=live }} This dynamic was also reported in Barron's,{{Cite web |last=Bary |first=Andrew |title=Alleghany Deal Shows How Much Warren Buffett Dislikes Investment Bankers |url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-alleghany-51647960243 |access-date=April 26, 2022 |website=www.barrons.com |language=en-US |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417215605/https://www.barrons.com/articles/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-alleghany-51647960243 |url-status=live }} Insider,{{Cite web |last=Fox |first=Matthew |title=Warren Buffett's disdain for investment banking 'money-shufflers' leads to lower takeover price for Alleghany Corp. shareholders |url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-alleghany-takeover-price-berkshire-hathaway-investment-bankers-fees-2022-3 |access-date=April 26, 2022 |website=Markets Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=April 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423005453/https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-alleghany-takeover-price-berkshire-hathaway-investment-bankers-fees-2022-3 |url-status=live |date=Mar 22, 2022}} and Seeking Alpha,{{Cite web |title=Berkshire Hathaway price for Alleghany shows Warren Buffett disdain for fees (NYSE:BRK.A) {{!}} Seeking Alpha |url=https://seekingalpha.com/news/3816111-berkshire-hathaways-price-for-alleghany-reflects-buffetts-disdain-for-bankers |access-date=April 26, 2022 |website=seekingalpha.com |date=March 22, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426191847/https://seekingalpha.com/news/3816111-berkshire-hathaways-price-for-alleghany-reflects-buffetts-disdain-for-bankers |url-status=live }} among others.

File:Storm Chasers press conference.jpg in 2010]]

In 1949, Buffett developed a crush on a young woman whose boyfriend had a ukulele. In an attempt to compete, he bought one of the instruments and has been playing it ever since. Though the attempt to capture her attention was unsuccessful, his music interest became a key part of his becoming a part of Susan Thompson's life, and led to their marriage. Buffett often plays the instrument at stockholder meetings and other opportunities. His love of the instrument led to the commissioning of two custom Dairy Queen ukuleles by Dave Talsma, one of which was auctioned for charity.{{cite web|last1=Yates|first1=Chelsea|title=The Billionaire and the Ukulele|url=http://hearnebraska.org/feature/the-billionaire-and-the-ukulele-warren-buffetts-lifetime-investment-feature-story/|website=Hear Nebraska|date=November 27, 2015 |access-date=November 28, 2015|archive-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130232304/http://hearnebraska.org/feature/the-billionaire-and-the-ukulele-warren-buffetts-lifetime-investment-feature-story/|url-status=live}}

In 1952,{{cite news |title=Susan T. Buffett, 72, Dies; Wife of Billionaire Investor |first=Matt |last=Schudel |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26094-2004Jul29.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 30, 2004 |page=B06 |access-date=July 13, 2009 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107044619/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26094-2004Jul29.html |url-status=live }} Buffett married Susan at Dundee Presbyterian Church. The following year, they had their first child, Susan Alice. She was followed by Howard (b. 1954) and Peter (b. 1958). The couple began living separately in 1977, although they remained married until Susan's death in July 2004. Their only daughter Susan lives in Omaha, is a national board member of Girls, Inc., and does charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation.{{cite web|last1=Callahan|first1=David|title=Who's Who At The Secretive Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation|url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2014/2/4/whos-who-at-the-secretive-susan-thompson-buffett-foundation.html|website=Inside Philanthropy|date=February 4, 2014 |access-date=December 15, 2017|archive-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216034629/https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2014/2/4/whos-who-at-the-secretive-susan-thompson-buffett-foundation.html|url-status=live}}

In 2006, on his 76th birthday, Buffett married his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, who was then 60 years old—she had lived with him since his wife's departure to San Francisco in 1977.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/business/01buffett.html |title=How Does Warren Buffett Get Married? Frugally, It Turns Out |date=September 1, 2006 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 20, 2008 |first1=Jeff |last1=Bailey |first2=Eric |last2=Dash |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425105846/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/business/01buffett.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|author1=Brian Goodman|title=Wedding Bells For Warren Buffett|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wedding-bells-for-warren-buffett/|access-date=September 9, 2014|publisher=CBS News|date=August 31, 2006|archive-date=October 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013040907/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wedding-bells-for-warren-buffett/|url-status=live}} Susan had arranged for the two to meet before she left Omaha to pursue her singing career. All three were close and Christmas cards to friends were signed "Warren, Susie and Astrid".{{cite book | last=Lowenstein | first=Roger | title=Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist | isbn= 978-0-8129-7927-5 | publisher=Random House | year=2008 }} Susan briefly discussed this relationship in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show shortly before her death, in a rare glimpse into Buffett's personal life.{{cite web |title=Susan Buffett in Her Own Words: Conversations with Charlie Rose |url=http://www.bookwormomaha.com/store/pc-34-9-susan-buffett-in-her-own-words-conversations-with-charlie-rose.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223012430/http://www.bookwormomaha.com/store/pc-34-9-susan-buffett-in-her-own-words-conversations-with-charlie-rose.aspx |archive-date=December 23, 2007 |access-date=May 20, 2008 |publisher=Bookworm Omaha}} Also freely available at [https://charlierose.com/videos/9236] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926235537/https://charlierose.com/videos/9236|date=September 26, 2017}}.

Buffett disowned his son Peter's adopted daughter, Nicole, in 2006 after she participated in the Jamie Johnson documentary The One Percent about the growing economic inequality between the wealthy and the average citizen in the United States. Although his first wife referred to Nicole as one of her "adored grandchildren",[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120371859381786725?mod=fpa_mostpop The Rich Man's Michael Moore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901160248/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120371859381786725?mod=fpa_mostpop |date=September 1, 2017 }} The Wall Street Journal, Robert Frank. February 23, 2008 Buffett wrote Nicole a letter stating, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin".{{cite news | first=Leah McGrath | last=Goodman | title=The Billionaire's Black Sheep | date=December 2008 | url=http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/latest/warren-buffett-granddaughter-nicole-buffett | work=Marie Claire | access-date=March 19, 2010 | archive-date=May 20, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520013421/http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/latest/warren-buffett-granddaughter-nicole-buffett | url-status=live }}{{cite news | first=Michelle | last=Nichols | title=Documentary on wealth gap divides Buffett family | date=February 21, 2008 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2040437020080221 | work=Reuters | access-date=March 19, 2010 | archive-date=May 20, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520055321/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2040437020080221 | url-status=live }}{{Cite book|last=Schroeder, Alice.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/225852426|title=The snowball : Warren Buffett and the business of life|date=2008|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0-553-80509-3|location=New York|oclc=225852426|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=January 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120105247/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/225852426|url-status=live}} By 2022, Buffett and she had reconciled.{{cite web |title=Meet Nicole Buffett, the granddaughter of legendary investor Warren Buffett, who has made a living off of NFTs |url=https://fortune.com/crypto/2022/05/28/warren-buffett-granddaughter-nicole-nft-artist-crypto/ |website=Fortune |access-date=2023-07-24 |date=2022-05-28 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727085100/https://fortune.com/crypto/2022/05/28/warren-buffett-granddaughter-nicole-nft-artist-crypto/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bswv4zdkv8o4vtpooc8w/culture/warren-buffett-may-not-be-into-crypto-but-his-granddaughter-is|title=Warren Buffett May Not Be Into Crypto, But His Granddaughter Is|publisher=Institutional Investor|author=Goodman, Leah McGrath|date=2021-09-24|access-date=2023-10-18|archive-date=October 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023002633/https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bswv4zdkv8o4vtpooc8w/culture/warren-buffett-may-not-be-into-crypto-but-his-granddaughter-is|url-status=live}}

File:Dundee HD Omaha NE.JPG]]

His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is small compared to senior executive remuneration in comparable companies.{{cite news |url=http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2005/06/29/stupid-ceo-tricks.aspx |title=Stupid CEO Tricks |author=Smith, Rich |publisher=Motley Fool |date=June 29, 2005 |access-date=May 20, 2008 |archive-date=June 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613165904/http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2005/06/29/stupid-ceo-tricks.aspx |url-status=live }} In 2008, he earned a total compensation of $175,000, which included a base salary of just $100,000.[http://www.equilar.com/CEO_Compensation/Berkshire_Hathaway_Warren_E._Buffett.php 2008 CEO Compensation for Warren E. Buffett], Equilar {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414092753/http://www.equilar.com/CEO_Compensation/Berkshire_Hathaway_Warren_E._Buffett.php |date=April 14, 2009 }} In 1958, Buffett purchased a five-bedroom stucco house in Omaha, where he still lives, for {{US$|31500|1957|link=Y}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mmk45fgld/warren-buffett-house-omaha-nebraska/|title=Billionaire Houses|website=Forbes |access-date=October 20, 2016|archive-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017161110/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mmk45fgld/warren-buffett-house-omaha-nebraska/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Poppick |first=Susie |date=May 1, 2016 |title=This Is How Much It Costs to Live Next Door to Warren Buffett |url=https://money.com/this-is-how-much-it-costs-to-live-next-to-warren-buffett/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428145343/https://money.com/this-is-how-much-it-costs-to-live-next-to-warren-buffett/ |archive-date=April 28, 2022 |access-date=October 1, 2016 |work=Money.com}} He also owned a vacation home in Laguna Beach, California,{{cite news|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=https://www.forbes.com/2005/03/10/cx_bill05_homeslide_2.html?thisSpeed=6000000000|title=Warren Buffett|work=Forbes|archive-date=May 28, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528173912/http://www.forbes.com/2005/03/10/cx_bill05_homeslide_2.html?thisSpeed=6000000000|url-status=live}} which he purchased for $150,000 in 1971. He sold it for $7.5 million in 2018.{{Cite web |last=Loudenback |first=Madeline Stone, Tanza |title=For almost 2 years, no one wanted to buy Warren Buffett's Southern California vacation home, but it finally sold for $7.5 million |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-warren-buffetts-house-in-california-2017-2 |access-date=June 12, 2022 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=June 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612223814/https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-warren-buffetts-house-in-california-2017-2 |url-status=live }} In 1989, after spending nearly $6.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a private jet, Buffett named it "The Indefensible", later renamed "The Indispensable".{{cite web |last1=Mohamed |first1=Theron |title=Warren Buffett nicknamed his private jet 'The Indefensible' - then renamed it 'The Indispensable' after realizing its value |url=https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/warren-buffett-nicknamed-his-private-jet-the-indefensible-then-renamed-it-the-indispensable-after-realizing-its-value/articleshow/96627589.cms |publisher=Business Insider |date=December 30, 2022 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |archive-date=January 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101103503/https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/warren-buffett-nicknamed-his-private-jet-the-indefensible-then-renamed-it-the-indispensable-after-realizing-its-value/articleshow/96627589.cms |url-status=live }} This act was at odds with his past condemnation of extravagant spending by other CEOs.{{cite web|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1989.html|title=Chairman's Letter 1989|publisher=Berkshire Hathaway|archive-date=June 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608010149/http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1989.html|url-status=live}} Buffett sold the jet prior to mid-1999, and has since usually flown with Berkshire's flight services businesses.{{cite book |last1=Buffett |first1=Warren E. |last2=Cunningham |first2=Lawrence A. |title=The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America |edition=4th |year=2015 |publisher=The Cunningham Group & Carolina Academic Press |isbn=978-1611637588 |page=65}}

{{quote box| quote=Bridge is such a sensational game that I wouldn't mind being in jail if I had three cellmates who were decent players and who were willing to keep the game going twenty-four hours a day.|author= —Buffett on bridge{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/09/17/070917crbo_books_owen?currentPage=all | title=Turning Tricks: The rise and fall of contract bridge. | magazine=The New Yorker | date=September 17, 2007 | access-date=November 25, 2011 | author=Owen, David | archive-date=March 6, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306143320/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/09/17/070917crbo_books_owen?currentPage=all | url-status=live }}|width=30%|salign=right}}

Buffett is an avid bridge player, which he plays with Gates{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Martha T. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-12-19-bridge-schools_x.htm |title=Billionaires bank on bridge to trump poker |work=USA Today |date=December 19, 2005 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=May 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515131800/http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-12-19-bridge-schools_x.htm |url-status=live }} and champion player Sharon Osberg; he is said to spend 12 hours a week playing the game.{{cite news|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bringing-back-bridge/|title=Bringing Back Bridge|publisher=CBS News|date=February 17, 2008|author=Blackstone, John|archive-date=May 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526022755/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/16/sunday/main3840748.shtml|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Heath |first1=Thomas |title=Meet the woman who gives bridge tips to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/meet-the-woman-who-plays-bridge-with-warren-buffett-and-bill-gates/2017/07/28/571e1fbe-7233-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 28, 2017 |access-date=2024-01-25 |archive-date=January 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128041915/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/meet-the-woman-who-plays-bridge-with-warren-buffett-and-bill-gates/2017/07/28/571e1fbe-7233-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html |url-status=live }} In 2006, he sponsored a bridge match for the Buffett Cup. Modeled on the Ryder Cup in golf—held immediately before it in the same city—the teams are chosen by invitation, with a female team and five male teams provided by each country.{{cite web|author1=Doreen MacMillan|title=Bridge Scene: United States team secures the 2012 Warren Buffett Cup|url=http://www.naplesnews.com/community/collier-citizen/bridge-scene-united-states-team-secures-the-2012|website=Collier Citizen|publisher=Scripps Media Inc|access-date=September 9, 2014|date=October 5, 2012|archive-date=September 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911001721/http://www.naplesnews.com/community/collier-citizen/bridge-scene-united-states-team-secures-the-2012|url-status=live}}

He is a dedicated, lifelong follower of Nebraska football, and attends as many games as his schedule permits. He supported the hire of Bo Pelini, following the 2007 season, stating, "It was getting kind of desperate around here".{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ja-xKuB3YQ |title=The Varsity Zone Talks Football with Warren Buffett |date=March 3, 2008 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027155004/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ja-xKuB3YQ |url-status=live }} He watched the 2009 game against Oklahoma from the Nebraska sideline, after being named an honorary assistant coach.{{cite news|title=From the sidelines: Can some of these guys suit up?|newspaper=Omaha World-Herald|date=November 7, 2009|author=Sherman, Mitch}} Buffett was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2009.{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Warren+Edward+Buffett&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=June 9, 2021|website=search.amphilsoc.org|archive-date=June 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609192810/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Warren+Edward+Buffett&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|url-status=live}} Buffett worked with Christopher Webber on an animated series called "Secret Millionaires Club" with chief Andy Heyward of DiC Entertainment. The series features Buffett and Munger and teaches children healthy financial habits.{{cite book|url=http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090724005103&newsLang=en |title=Warren Buffett, Martha Stewart, Gisele Bündchen, and Kosmos Featuring Carl Sagan Headline New Slate of Purpose-Driven Entertainment for Children |work=Business Wire |date=July 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005230616/http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090724005103&newsLang=en |archive-date=October 5, 2015 }}{{cite web| url=https://www.cnbc.com/2009/07/24/cnbc-transcript-warren-buffetts-secret-millionaires-club-live-interview-on-squawk-box.html| title=CNBC TRANSCRIPT: Warren Buffett's 'Secret Millionaire's Club' Live Interview on Squawk Box| date=July 24, 2009| publisher=CNBC| access-date=September 18, 2017| archive-date=September 1, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901203536/https://www.cnbc.com/id/32123530| url-status=live}}

Buffett was raised as a Presbyterian, but has since described himself as agnostic.[https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/faces3.html Wired] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724125606/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/faces3.html |date=July 24, 2013 }} article Faces of the New Atheism: The Scribe published November 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2009. In December 2006, it was reported that Buffett did not carry a mobile phone, did not have a computer at his desk, and drove his own automobile,{{cite web|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/dec/26buffet.htm|title=How Warren Buffett made his billions|website=Rediff.com|date=December 26, 2006|archive-date=May 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525095824/http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/dec/26buffet.htm|url-status=live}} a Cadillac DTS.{{cite news|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/05/29/8378053/index.htm|title=Buffett backs GM – and buys a Caddy|publisher=CNN|date=June 4, 2006|author=Taylor III, Alex|archive-date=September 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929081715/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/05/29/8378053/index.htm|url-status=live}} In contrast to that, at the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder meeting, he stated he uses Google as his preferred search engine.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/05/buffett-i-was-wrong-on-google-and-amazon-bezos-achieved-a-business-miracle.html|title=Warren Buffett: I was wrong on Google and Amazon, Jeff Bezos achieved a business 'miracle'|last=Kim|first=Tae|date=May 5, 2018|work=CNBC|access-date=May 6, 2018|archive-date=May 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506002304/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/05/buffett-i-was-wrong-on-google-and-amazon-bezos-achieved-a-business-miracle.html|url-status=live}} In 2013 he had an old Nokia flip phone and had sent one email in his entire life.{{cite web|author=Piers Morgan|title=Warren Buffett on cell phones, email, and material goods|url=http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/22/warren-buffett-on-cell-phones-email-and-material-goods/|date=October 22, 2013|access-date=November 11, 2014|publisher=CNN|archive-date=October 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007162531/http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/22/warren-buffett-on-cell-phones-email-and-material-goods/|url-status=dead}} In February 2020, Buffett revealed in a CNBC interview that he had traded in his flip phone for an iPhone 11.{{cite news |last1=Bursztynsky |first1=Jessica |title=Billionaire Apple investor Warren Buffett finally trades in his $20 flip phone for an iPhone 11 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/24/apple-investor-warren-buffett-traded-in-his-flip-phone-for-an-iphone.html |access-date=February 27, 2020 |work=CNBC |date=February 24, 2020 |archive-date=February 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227015118/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/24/apple-investor-warren-buffett-traded-in-his-flip-phone-for-an-iphone.html |url-status=live }} Buffett reads five newspapers every day, beginning with the Omaha World Herald, which his company acquired in 2011.

Buffett's speeches are known for mixing business discussions with humor. Each year, Buffett presides over Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, an event drawing over 20,000 visitors from both the United States and abroad, giving it the nickname "Woodstock of Capitalism". 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 quotations from sources as varied as the Bible and Mae West,{{cite web|url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1993.html|title=Chairman's Letter—1993|publisher=Berkshire Hathaway|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-date=June 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629021806/http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1993.html|url-status=live}} as well as advice in a folksy, Midwestern style and numerous jokes.

In April 2017, Buffett (an avid Coca-Cola drinker and shareholder in the company) agreed to have his likeness placed on Cherry Coke products in China. Buffett was not compensated for this advertisement.{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-05/why-is-warren-buffetts-face-on-cherry-coke-in-china/8417384|title=How billionaire Warren Buffett became the face of Cherry Coke in China|date=April 5, 2017|publisher=ABC News|access-date=April 5, 2017|language=en-AU|archive-date=April 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405063819/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-05/why-is-warren-buffetts-face-on-cherry-coke-in-china/8417384|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/05/billionaire-warren-buffet-becomes-face-of-cherry-coke-in-china-coca-cola|title=Billionaire Warren Buffett becomes face of Cherry Coke in China|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=April 5, 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=April 5, 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=April 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405081507/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/05/billionaire-warren-buffet-becomes-face-of-cherry-coke-in-china-coca-cola|url-status=live}} Buffett is very distantly related to the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama.{{cite web | url=https://www.insider.com/celebrities-related-to-us-presidents?amp | title=Celebrities who are related to US presidents | website=Insider.com | access-date=July 31, 2022 | archive-date=June 6, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606065309/https://www.insider.com/celebrities-related-to-us-presidents?amp | url-status=live }} Buffett was a longtime friend of singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett until Jimmy's death in September 2023, and they would often refer to one another as "Uncle Warren" and "Cousin Jimmy". The two took a DNA test which revealed no relation.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Emmie |date=February 8, 2018 |title=Warren Buffett and Jimmy Buffett took a DNA test to see if they're related |work=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/08/warren-buffett-and-jimmy-buffett-took-a-23andme-dna-test.html |access-date=May 5, 2023 |archive-date=May 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505170447/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/08/warren-buffett-and-jimmy-buffett-took-a-23andme-dna-test.html |url-status=live }}

Buffett is a teetotaler.{{cite news|last=Barth|first=Chris|title=Ten Teetotalling Moguls|work=Forbes|date=11 March 2011|url=https://www.forbes.com/2011/03/11/teetotal-moguls_slide.html?sh=6ac12bb77db9|access-date=1 May 2024}} On April 11, 2012, Buffett was diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer during a routine test.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17751171|title=Warren Buffett diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer|work=BBC News|access-date=December 27, 2015|archive-date=January 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105042732/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17751171|url-status=live}} He announced he would begin two months of daily radiation treatment from mid-July. In a letter to shareholders, Buffett said he felt "great—as if I were in my normal excellent health—and my energy level is 100 percent". On September 15, 2012, Buffett announced that he had completed the full 44-day radiation treatment cycle, saying "it's a great day for me" and "I am so glad to say that's over".{{cite news | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-cancer-treatment-2012-9 | title=Warren Buffett Completes Cancer Treatments | work=Business Insider | author=Sam Ro | date=September 15, 2012 | access-date=September 16, 2012 | archive-date=September 16, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916215113/http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-cancer-treatment-2012-9 | url-status=live }}

File:Kathy Ireland, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates at the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting.jpg and Bill Gates at the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting]] In 2008, Buffett was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately $62 billion.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html|title=The World's Billionaires|date=March 5, 2008|work=Forbes|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=November 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109212047/https://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html|url-status=live}} In 2009, after donating billions of dollars to charity, he was ranked as the second richest man in the United States with a net worth of $37 billion{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/money/work_career/2009/10/01/2009-10-01_bill_gates_warren_buffett_lawrence_ellison_top_2009s_forbes_400_richest_american.html|title=Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Christy Walton top 2009's 'Forbes 400: Richest Americans' list|last=Boyle|first=Christina|date=October 1, 2009|work=Daily News|location=New York|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=October 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004005306/http://www.nydailynews.com/money/work_career/2009/10/01/2009-10-01_bill_gates_warren_buffett_lawrence_ellison_top_2009s_forbes_400_richest_american.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-25-buffett-charity_x.htm|title=Warren Buffett signs over $30.7B to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation|date=June 26, 2006|work=USA Today|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=November 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091116222403/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-25-buffett-charity_x.htm|url-status=live}} with only Bill Gates ranked higher than Buffett. His net worth had risen to $58.5 billion as of September 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/|title=The Forbes 400: The Richest People In America|work=Forbes|access-date=June 29, 2014|archive-date=October 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023040144/http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/|url-status=live}}

In 1999, Buffett was named the Top Money Manager of the Twentieth Century in a survey by the Carson Group, ahead of Peter Lynch and John Templeton.{{cite news|access-date=May 20, 2008 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Nov_22/ai_57747902 |title=Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch Voted Top Money Managers of the Century |publisher=Business Wire |date=November 22, 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209161910/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Nov_22/ai_57747902 |archive-date=December 9, 2007}} In 2007, he was listed among Time{{'s}} 100 Most Influential People in the world.{{cite magazine|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/2004/time100/builders/100buffett.html|title=Warren Buffett|magazine=Time|author=Cramer, James J.|date=April 19, 2003|archive-date=May 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517062554/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/2004/time100/builders/100buffett.html|url-status=dead}} In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.{{cite news|title=Obama Honors Buffett, George H.W. Bush With Medal of Freedom|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/obama-honors-buffett-george-h-w-bush-with-medal-of-freedom.html|access-date=February 15, 2011|date=February 15, 2011|author=Julianna Goldman|work=Bloomberg|archive-date=February 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218174519/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/obama-honors-buffett-george-h-w-bush-with-medal-of-freedom.html|url-status=live}} Buffett, along with Bill Gates, was named the most influential global thinker in Foreign Policy's 2010 report.{{cite news|access-date=November 28, 2010|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=0,0|title=The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers|work=Foreign Policy|date=November 29, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203160314/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=0,0|archive-date=December 3, 2010}}

Buffett has written several times of his belief that, in a market economy, the rich earn outsized rewards for their talents."How Inflation Swindles the Equity Investor", Warren E. Buffett, Fortune May 1977 # His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. He once commented, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing".Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/XkyEfqjbp8U Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20080220224040/http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=XkyEfqjbp8U Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite AV media|access-date=May 20, 2008|title=An Exclusive Hour with Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkyEfqjbp8U|publisher=Charlie Rose}}{{cbignore}}

Buffett had long stated his intention to give away his fortune to charity, and in June 2006, he announced a new plan to give 83% of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity1.fortune/index.htm|title=Warren Buffett gives away his fortune|date=June 25, 2006|work=Fortune|access-date=December 22, 2015|author=Loomis, Carol J.|archive-date=January 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103001620/http://archive.fortune.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity1.fortune/index.htm|url-status=live}} He pledged about the equivalent of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth approximately $30.7 billion as of June 23, 2006),{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13541144|title=Gates: Buffett gift may help cure worst diseases|date=June 26, 2006|publisher=NBC News|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-date=September 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913214835/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13541144/|url-status=live}} making it the largest charitable donation in history, and Buffett one of the leaders of philanthrocapitalism.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5517656|title=The birth of philanthrocapitalism|date=February 23, 2006|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=February 23, 2009|archive-date=October 4, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004033525/http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5517656|url-status=live}} The foundation will receive 5% of the total each July, beginning in 2006. The pledge is conditional upon three requirements:

• Bill or Melinda Gates must be alive and active in BMGF
• BMGF must continue to qualify as a charity
• Each year BMGF must give away an amount equal to the prior year's Berkshire gift plus the additional 5% of net assets as required of all US foundations

Buffett joined the Gates Foundation's board, but did not plan to be actively involved in the foundation's investments.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/business/26buffett.html|title=Buffett to Give Bulk of His Fortune to Gates Charity|date=June 26, 2006|work=The New York Times|last1=O'Brien|first1=Timothy L.|author-link1=Timothy L. O'Brien|last2=Saul|first2=Stephanie|author-link2=Stephanie Saul|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220161614/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/business/26buffett.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062500801_2.html|title=Gates Foundation to Get Bulk of Buffett's Fortune|date=June 26, 2006|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=A01|author=Yuki Noguchi|access-date=September 18, 2017|archive-date=December 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209010021/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062500801_2.html|url-status=live}} Buffett announced his resignation as a trustee of the Gates Foundation on June 23, 2021.{{Cite web|last=Li|first=Yun|date=June 23, 2021|title=Warren Buffett gives away another $4.1 billion, resigns as trustee at Gates Foundation|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/23/warren-buffett-gives-away-another-4point1-billion-resigns-as-trustee-at-gates-foundation.html|access-date=June 23, 2021|website=CNBC|language=en|archive-date=June 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623113115/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/23/warren-buffett-gives-away-another-4point1-billion-resigns-as-trustee-at-gates-foundation.html|url-status=live}} This represented a significant shift from Buffett's previous statements, to the effect that most of his fortune would pass to his Buffett Foundation.{{cite journal|date=June 25, 2006|title=A conversation with Warren Buffett|url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity2.fortune/index.htm|author=Carol J. Loomis|journal=Fortune|access-date=August 3, 2020|archive-date=January 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111224202/https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity2.fortune/index.htm|url-status=live}} The bulk of the estate of his wife, valued at $2.6 billion, went there when she died in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=75900030|title=Most of Susan Buffett Estate to Go to Foundation|date=August 11, 2004|publisher=The Foundation Center|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-date=August 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830082620/http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=75900030|url-status=live}} He also pledged $50 million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in Washington, where he began serving as an adviser in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://philanthropy.com/stats/donors/detail.php?ID_Gift=1906|title=America's Most-Generous Donors, Rank: 1 Warren E. Buffett, Chronicle of Philanthropy|date=February 22, 2007|website=Philanthropy.com|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=February 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213192657/http://philanthropy.com/stats/donors/detail.php?ID_Gift=1906|url-status=live}}

In 2006, he auctioned his 2001 Lincoln Town Car{{cite web|url=http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/forbes400/vehicles/01-cadillac_dts.html |title=Warren Buffett |access-date=May 20, 2008 |work=Forbes |author=Chapnick, Nate |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604052500/http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/forbes400/vehicles/01-cadillac_dts.html |archive-date=June 4, 2008}} on eBay to raise money for Girls, Inc.{{cite web|url=http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=girls-inc|title=girls-inc|publisher=eBay|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-date=June 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611044635/http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=girls-inc|url-status=live}} In 2007, he auctioned a luncheon with himself that raised a final bid of $650,100 for the Glide Foundation.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/01/business/main3002551.shtml|title=Lunch With Warren Buffett? $650,100, Charity Auction Winner Bids Big Money For Steak Lunch With Billionaire Buffett|date=July 1, 2007|publisher=CBS News|author=Lindsay Goldwert|access-date=February 23, 2009|archive-date=June 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627111254/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/01/business/main3002551.shtml|url-status=dead}} Later auctions raised $2.1 million,{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUKN2646483420080628|title=uk.reuters.com, Warren Buffett lunch sells for record $2.11 mln|last=Zuill|first=Lilla|date=June 28, 2008|work=Reuters|access-date=February 23, 2009|archive-date=January 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112020143/http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUKN2646483420080628|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2008/06/27/warren-buffett-charity-lunch-auction-ends-with-high-bid-of-2110100.html|title=cnbc.com, Warren Buffett Charity Lunch Auction Ends with High Bid of $2,110,100|date=June 27, 2008|publisher=CNBC|access-date=February 23, 2009|archive-date=December 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205030958/http://www.cnbc.com/id/25421046|url-status=live}} $1.7 million{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100606/ap_on_bi_ge/us_buffett_lunch|title=Buffett hopes lunch auction again draws big bids|date=June 6, 2010|agency=Associated Press|access-date=June 7, 2010|author=Funk, Josh|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608082855/https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100606/ap_on_bi_ge/us_buffett_lunch|archive-date=June 8, 2010}} and $3.5 million. The winners traditionally dine with Buffett at New York's Smith and Wollensky steak house. The restaurant donates at least $10,000 to Glide each year to host the meal.{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/cost-lunch-warren-buffett-3-5-million-034012455--finance.html|title=Cost to lunch with Warren Buffett: $3.5 million|date=June 9, 2012|work=Yahoo! News|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305154935/https://news.yahoo.com/cost-lunch-warren-buffett-3-5-million-034012455--finance.html|url-status=live}}

In 2009, Ralph Nader wrote the book Only the Super Rich Can Save Us, a novel about "a movement of billionaires led by Warren Buffett and featuring, among others, Ted Turner, George Soros and Barry Diller, who use their fortunes to clean up America". On C-SPAN BookTV, Nader said Buffett invited him to breakfast after the book came out and was "quite intrigued by the book". He also told Nader of his plan to get "billionaires all over the world to donate 50% of their estate to charity or good works".Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/OYNYYQTMGuI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201027155004/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYNYYQTMGuI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|title=Ralph Nader: Books, Quotes, Education, History, Accomplishments, Legacy – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYNYYQTMGuI|access-date=November 16, 2020|website=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}} On December 9, 2010, Buffett, Bill Gates, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed a promise they called the "Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge", in which they promise to donate to charity at least half of their wealth, and invite other wealthy people to follow suit.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10870361|title=US billionaires pledge 50% of their wealth to charity|date=August 4, 2010|publisher=BBC|access-date=September 6, 2010|archive-date=August 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830170602/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10870361|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/dec2010/ca20101214_945792.htm |title=Four Strategic Generosity Lessons |last=Moss |first=Rosabeth |date=December 14, 2010 |work=Business Week |access-date=March 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225154751/http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/dec2010/ca20101214_945792.htm |archive-date=February 25, 2011 }} In 2018, after making almost $3.4 billion donations,{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/buffett-donates-dollar34-billion-to-gates-and-family-charities/ar-AAAaGAn|title=Buffett donates $3.4 billion to Gates' and family charities|website=Msn.com|language=en-US|access-date=July 17, 2018|archive-date=July 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717154113/https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/buffett-donates-dollar34-billion-to-gates-and-family-charities/ar-AAAaGAn|url-status=live}} Buffett was ranked 3rd in the Forbes' List of Billionaires 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/#52064443251c|title=The World's Billionaires 2018|website=Forbes.com|language=en|access-date=July 17, 2018|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129074957/http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/#52064443251c|url-status=live}}

Buffett continues to help fund and support his family's individual foundations which include Susan Buffett's Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Susan Alice Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, Howard Graham Buffett's Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation.{{cite web|url=http://fortune.com/2015/07/06/warren-buffett-donation/|title=Warren Buffett donates $2.8 billion ... again|website=Fortune.com|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415065321/http://fortune.com/2015/07/06/warren-buffett-donation/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/buffett-boosts-commitment-to-children-s-family-foundations|title=Buffett Boosts Commitment to Children's Family Foundations|last=Candid|website=Philanthropy News Digest (PND)|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421141504/http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/buffett-boosts-commitment-to-children-s-family-foundations|url-status=live}} Warren Buffett was also supportive of his sister Doris Buffett's Letters Foundation and Learning By Giving Foundation.{{cite web|url=https://www.davidson.edu/news/news-stories/170627-doris-buffetts-learning-by-giving-foundation/|title=Doris Buffett's Learning by Giving Foundation: 'It All Started at Davidson'|website=Davidson.edu|access-date=April 21, 2019}}{{Dead link|date=April 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/warren-buffetts-fortune-going-directly-need|title=How Warren Buffett's fortune is going directly to those in need|date=February 2, 2017|website=PBS NewsHour|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421141505/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/warren-buffetts-fortune-going-directly-need|url-status=live}}

In November 2022, Buffett made a donation of $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway shares to four charitable foundations run by his children. 1.5 million Class B shares of his conglomerate to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his first wife. He also transferred 300,000 Class B shares each to three funds managed by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/buffett-gives-more-than-750m-berkshire-shares-charities|title=Buffett gives more than $750M in Berkshire shares to charities|website=www.foxbusiness.com|date=November 24, 2022|access-date=December 1, 2022|archive-date=December 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201055822/https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/buffett-gives-more-than-750m-berkshire-shares-charities|url-status=live}} {{As of|2023}}, Buffett has given over $50 billion to charitable causes.{{cite web |last=Berger |first=Chloe |date=June 22, 2023 |title=Warren Buffett just gave away nearly $5 billion of his wealth again—he could have been the world's richest man if that's what he actually wanted |url=https://fortune.com/2023/06/22/warren-buffett-donates-five-billion-wealth-net-worth/ |work=Fortune |access-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623074917/https://fortune.com/2023/06/22/warren-buffett-donates-five-billion-wealth-net-worth/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Li |first=Yun |date=June 22, 2023 |title=Warren Buffett's charitable giving exceeds $50 billion, more than his entire net worth in 2006 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/22/warren-buffetts-charitable-giving-exceeds-50-billion-more-than-his-entire-net-worth-in-2006.html |website=CNBC |access-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623074917/https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/22/warren-buffetts-charitable-giving-exceeds-50-billion-more-than-his-entire-net-worth-in-2006.html |url-status=live }}

File:President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett in the Oval Office, July 14, 2010.jpg, July 14, 2010|left]]

In addition to political contributions over the years, Buffett endorsed and made campaign contributions to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. On July 2, 2008, Buffett attended a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Obama's campaign in Chicago.{{cite news

|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/us/politics/03donate.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/U/United%20States%20Politics%20and%20Government

|title = Obama Picks Up Fund-Raising Pace

|newspaper = The Washington Post

|author = Michael Luo and Christopher Drew

|date = July 3, 2008

|access-date = September 24, 2008

|archive-date = May 1, 2013

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130501054149/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/us/politics/03donate.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FU%2FUnited%20States%20Politics%20and%20Government

|url-status = live

}} Buffett intimated that John McCain's views on social justice were so far from his own that McCain would need a "lobotomy" for Buffett to change his endorsement.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2008/05/05/cnbcs-becky-quick-sits-down-with-billionaire-investor-warren-buffett-on-cnbcs-squawk-box-transcript-included.html|title="Squawk Box" Transcript: Becky Quick Sits Down with Billionaire Investor Warren Buffett|date=May 5, 2008|access-date=September 12, 2008|publisher=CNBC|archive-date=May 13, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513094457/http://www.cnbc.com/id/24469771|url-status=live}} During the second 2008 U.S. presidential debate, McCain and Obama, after being asked first by presidential debate mediator Tom Brokaw, both mentioned Buffett as a possible future Secretary of the Treasury.{{cite news

|url = http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/07/presidential.debate.transcript/

|title = Transcript of second McCain, Obama debate

|publisher = CNN

|date = October 10, 2008

|access-date = October 10, 2008

|archive-date = October 9, 2008

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081009011043/http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/07/presidential.debate.transcript/

|url-status = live

}} Later, in the third and final presidential debate, Obama mentioned Buffett as a potential economic advisor.{{cite news|url=http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page95?oid=234774&sn=Detail |title=Obama appoints Buffett as economic adviser |date=November 7, 2008 |agency=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724100245/http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page95?oid=234774&sn=Detail |archive-date=July 24, 2013 }} Buffett was also a financial advisor to Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger during the 2003 California gubernatorial election.[https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2003-08-13-buffett-calif_x.htm USA Today: Schwarzenegger taps Buffett as finance advisor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910210814/http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2003-08-13-buffett-calif_x.htm |date=September 10, 2012 }} August 14, 2003

On December 16, 2015, Buffett endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president.[https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/16/warren-buffett-endorses-hillary-clinton-and-calls-for-higher-taxes-on-wealthy/?_r=0 Warren Buffett Endorses Hillary Clinton and Calls for Higher Taxes on Wealthy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517132949/https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/16/warren-buffett-endorses-hillary-clinton-and-calls-for-higher-taxes-on-wealthy/?_r=0 |date=May 17, 2017 }} December 16, 2015 On August 1, 2016, Buffett challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns.{{cite news|last1=Haskell|first1=John|last2=Hansler|first2=Jennifer|title=Warren Buffett Challenges Trump to Show Tax Returns, Says He's 'Afraid'|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/warren-buffet-challenges-trump-show-tax-returns-afraid/story?id=41051768|access-date=August 2, 2016|publisher=ABC News|date=August 1, 2016|archive-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801235026/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/warren-buffet-challenges-trump-show-tax-returns-afraid/story?id=41051768|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Donald Trump says general election may be 'rigged'|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-warren-buffett-to-donald-trump-lets-1470088784-htmlstory.html|access-date=August 2, 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 1, 2016|archive-date=August 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802220607/http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-warren-buffett-to-donald-trump-lets-1470088784-htmlstory.html|url-status=live}} On October 10, 2016, after a reference to him in the second presidential debate, Buffett released his own tax return.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/transcript-second-debate.html|title=Transcript of the Second Debate|date=October 10, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 11, 2016|archive-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011054638/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/transcript-second-debate.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/buffett-just-released-own-tax-160701279.html|title=Buffett Just Released His Own Tax Data to Hammer Trump|access-date=October 11, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011061224/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/buffett-just-released-own-tax-160701279.html|archive-date=October 11, 2016}} He said he had paid $1.85 million in federal income taxes in 2015 on an adjusted gross income of $11.6 million, meaning he had an effective federal income tax rate of around 16 percent. Buffett also said he had made more than $2.8 billion worth of donations last year. In response to Trump saying he was unable to release his tax information due to being under audit, Buffett said, "I have been audited by the IRS multiple times and am currently being audited. I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump—at least he would have no legal problem." Buffett has said he would judge President Donald Trump by his results on national safety, economic growth and economic participation when deciding if he would vote for him in the 2020 presidential election.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/02/27/warren-buffett-donald-trump-investing-economy-taxes/98478510/|title=Warren Buffett: Will judge Trump by results but 'unlikely' he'll vote for him in 4 years|website=USA TODAY|language=en|access-date=March 11, 2019|archive-date=April 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409203733/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/02/27/warren-buffett-donald-trump-investing-economy-taxes/98478510/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/warren-buffett-heres-why-i-havent-been-criticizing-donald-trump.html|title=Warren Buffett: Here's why I haven't been criticizing Donald Trump|last=Belvedere|first=Matthew J.|date=August 30, 2017|website=CNBC|access-date=March 11, 2019|archive-date=April 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410114219/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/warren-buffett-heres-why-i-havent-been-criticizing-donald-trump.html|url-status=live}}

Buffett described the health care reform under President Barack Obama as insufficient to deal with the costs of health care in the U.S., though he supports its aim of expanding health insurance coverage.{{cite news |title=Warren Buffett On CNBC: Health Care Is Like An 'Economic Tape Worm' (WATCH) |newspaper=HuffPost |publisher=AP and CNBC |date=March 3, 2010 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |access-date=November 5, 2011 |first=Ryan |last=McCarthy |archive-date=October 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022025939/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |url-status=live }} 6 minutes in. Buffett compared health care costs to a tapeworm, saying that they compromise US economic competitiveness by increasing manufacturing costs. Buffett said in 2010 that it was not sustainable for the U.S. to devote 17% of its GDP to healthcare expenditure, noting that many other nations spent a much smaller proportion of their GDP on health expenditures, with better healthcare outcomes.{{cite news |title=Warren Buffett On CNBC: Health Care Is Like An 'Economic Tape Worm' (WATCH) |newspaper=HuffPost |publisher=AP and CNBC |date=March 3, 2010 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |access-date=November 5, 2011 |first=Ryan |last=McCarthy |archive-date=October 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022025939/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |url-status=live }} 7 minutes in. Buffett said, "If you want the very best, I mean if you want to spend a million dollars to prolong your life 3 months in a coma or something then the US is probably the best", but he also said that other countries spend much less and receive much more in health care value (visits, hospital beds, doctors and nurses per capita).{{cite news |title=Warren Buffett On CNBC: Health Care Is Like An 'Economic Tape Worm' (WATCH) |newspaper=HuffPost |publisher=AP and CNBC |date=March 3, 2010 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |access-date=November 5, 2011 |first=Ryan |last=McCarthy |archive-date=October 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022025939/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |url-status=live }} 4 minutes in.

Buffett faults the incentives in the United States medical industry, that payers reimburse doctors for procedures (fee-for-service) leading to unnecessary care (overutilization), instead of paying for results.{{cite news |title=Warren Buffett On CNBC: Health Care Is Like An 'Economic Tape Worm' (WATCH) |newspaper=HuffPost |publisher=AP and CNBC |date=March 3, 2010 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |access-date=November 5, 2011 |first=Ryan |last=McCarthy |archive-date=October 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022025939/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |url-status=live }} 9 to 10 minutes in. He cited Atul Gawande's 2009 article in the New Yorker{{cite news |title=The Cost Conundrum – What a Texas town can teach us about health care |author=Atul Gawande |author-link=Atul Gawande |newspaper=The New Yorker |date=June 1, 2009 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all |access-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610174307/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all |url-status=live }} as a useful consideration of U.S. health care, with its documentation of unwarranted variation in Medicare expenditures between McAllen, Texas and El Paso, Texas. Buffett raised the problem of lobbying by the medical industry, saying that they are very focused on maintaining their income.{{cite news |title=Warren Buffett On CNBC: Health Care Is Like An 'Economic Tape Worm' (WATCH) |newspaper=HuffPost |publisher=AP and CNBC |date=March 3, 2010 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |access-date=November 5, 2011 |first=Ryan |last=McCarthy |archive-date=October 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022025939/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/warren-buffett-on-cnbc-he_n_480399.html |url-status=live }} 11 minutes in.

Buffett has expressed concerns about unchecked population growth. In 2009, he met with several other billionaires to discuss healthcare, education and slowing population growth. Called "The Good Club" by an insider, the billionaires had given away $45 billion to philanthropic causes and included Oprah Winfrey, Michael Bloomberg and David Rockefeller, Jr.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/billionaire-club-in-bid-to-curb-overpopulation-d2fl22qhl02 |title=Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation |access-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922070406/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/billionaire-club-in-bid-to-curb-overpopulation-d2fl22qhl02 |url-status=live |last1=Angeles |first1=John Harlow }} The meeting has drawn criticism from some right-wing blogs, with some believing the group to be a part of a secret sterilization society.{{Cite news |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/05/26/billionaires-try-to-shrink-worlds-population-report-says/ |title=Billionaires Try to Shrink World's Population, Report Says |date=May 26, 2009 |last=Frank |first=Robert |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-date=August 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817005637/https://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/05/26/billionaires-try-to-shrink-worlds-population-report-says/ |url-status=live }} Buffett is a long-time supporter of family planning. The Buffett Foundation has given over $1.5 billion to abortion research to include $427 million to Planned Parenthood.{{Cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/abortion-research-buffett/ |title=How One Abortion Research Megadonor Forced the Supreme Court's Hand |date=July 14, 2016 |last=Martin |first=Nina |access-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807233842/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/abortion-research-buffett/ |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Buffett Rule}}

File:President Obama Speaks on the Buffett Rule.webm"]]

Buffett stated that he only paid 19% of his income for 2006 ($48.1 million) in total federal taxes (due to their source as dividends and capital gains) while his employees paid 33% of theirs, despite making much less money.{{cite journal|journal=Forbes|date=November 26, 2007|pages=24, 42–3|title=Warren Buffett}} Regarding how little he pays in taxes compared to his employees, he said, "How can this be fair? How can this be right? There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html | title=In Class Warfare, Guess Which Class Is Winning | work=The New York Times | date=November 26, 2006 | access-date=October 28, 2020 | author=Stein, Ben | quote=It turned out that Mr. Buffett, with immense income from dividends and capital gains, paid far, far less as a fraction of his income than the secretaries or the clerks or anyone else in his office. Further, in conversation it came up that Mr. Buffett doesn't use any tax planning at all. He just pays as the Internal Revenue Code requires. “How can this be fair?” he asked of how little he pays relative to his employees. “How can this be right?” Even though I agreed with him, I warned that whenever someone tried to raise the issue, he or she was accused of fomenting class warfare. “There's class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.” | archive-date=January 3, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103165340/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/article_4741b42c-cfd9-5904-84ff-eac61f661fd4.html | title=Plain Talk: There's class war, and rich are winning | publisher=Capital Newspapers Inc. | work=The Cap Times | date=October 6, 2010 | access-date=October 28, 2020 | author=Zweifel, Dave | quote=There are some studies that have estimated that the tax breaks and services that benefit the wealthy add up to $400 billion a year, compared to the $116 billion spent on programs for the poor. Class warfare? One of the richest Americans, Warren Buffett, replies to that notion: “There's class warfare, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.” | archive-date=October 9, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009142935/http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/article_4741b42c-cfd9-5904-84ff-eac61f661fd4.html | url-status=live }} After Donald Trump accused him of taking "massive deductions", Buffett countered, "I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward."{{cite web | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/10/warren-buffett-fires-back-at-donald-trumps-comments-about-his-taxes.html | title=Warren Buffett fires back at Donald Trump's comments about his taxes | publisher=CNBC | date=October 10, 2016 | access-date=October 28, 2020 | author=Pramuk, Jacob | quote=In Sunday night's presidential debate in St. Louis, Trump claimed that Buffett took a “massive deduction” while defending his claimed $916 million loss in 1995 that allowed him to avoid federal income tax in at least some years. Buffett, a supporter of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, said Monday that Trump “has not seen my income tax returns.” “I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. (Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward,” Buffett said in a statement. | archive-date=September 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901203449/https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/10/warren-buffett-fires-back-at-donald-trumps-comments-about-his-taxes.html | url-status=live }}

Buffett 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".{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1170874.stm | title=Rich Americans back inheritance tax | publisher=BBC | date=February 14, 2001 | access-date=October 28, 2020 | quote=A group of the United States' most wealthy citizens have urged Congress to reject a plan by the new Bush administration to phase out taxes on estates and gifts by 2009. ~. Mr Buffett, who himself did not sign the petition because he thought it did not go far enough, said that repealing the estate tax would be a "terrible mistake". It was like "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics". Removing the tax would lead to the creation of an "aristocracy of wealth" instead of a meritocracy, he added. | work=BBC News | archive-date=February 27, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227002559/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1170874.stm | url-status=live }} In 2007, Buffett testified before the Senate and urged them to preserve the estate tax so as to avoid a plutocracy.{{cite journal|url=http://thehill.com/business--lobby/buffett-tells-senate-finance-panel-dynastic-wealth-on-the-rise-in-u.s.-2007-11-15.html |title=Buffett tells Senate Finance panel 'dynastic' wealth on the rise in U.S. |author=Jim Snyder |date=November 15, 2007 |journal=The Hill |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120013350/http://thehill.com/business--lobby/buffett-tells-senate-finance-panel-dynastic-wealth-on-the-rise-in-u.s.-2007-11-15.html |archive-date=November 20, 2007}} Some critics argued that Buffett (through Berkshire Hathaway) has a personal interest in the continuation of the estate tax, since Berkshire Hathaway benefited from the estate tax in past business dealings and had developed and marketed insurance policies to protect policy holders against future estate tax payments.{{cite journal | access-date=April 3, 2016 | url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2004/08/buffetted-john-berlau/ | title=Buffetted. The Sage of Omaha loves the estate tax – as well he might | date=August 23, 2004 | author=Berlau, John | journal=National Review | quote=Yet the parallel question is never asked: Would these tycoons benefit from the more interventionist government policies advocated by Kerry and the Democrats? A look at Buffett's holdings shows that in at least one case, that of the estate tax, the answer is a strong yes. | archive-date=February 26, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226125848/https://www.nationalreview.com/2004/08/buffetted-john-berlau/ | url-status=live }} Buffett believes government should not be in the business of gambling, or legalizing casinos, calling it a tax on ignorance.{{cite news|access-date=May 20, 2008 |url=https://www.forbes.com/2004/10/11/cx_da_1011topnews_print.html |title=America, The Casino Nation |work=Forbes |date=October 11, 2004 |author=Ackman, Dan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413013010/http://www.forbes.com/2004/10/11/cx_da_1011topnews_print.html |archive-date=April 13, 2008 }}

The trade deficit induced Buffett to enter the foreign currency market for the first time in 2002. He substantially reduced his stake in 2005 as changing interest rates increased the costs of holding currency contracts. Buffett remained bearish on the dollar, stating that he was looking to acquire companies with substantial foreign revenues. Buffett has been critical of gold as an investment, with his critique being based primarily on its non-productive nature. In a 1998 address at Harvard, Buffett said:

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.

In 1977, about stocks, gold, farmland and inflation, he stated:

Stocks are probably still the best of all the poor alternatives in an era of inflation—at least they are if you buy in at appropriate prices.{{Cite journal | last=Buffett | first=Warren | title=How Inflation Swindles the Equity Investor | journal=Fortune | date=May 1977 }}

Buffett invested in PetroChina Company Limited and in a rare move, posted a commentary{{cite web|access-date=May 20, 2008|url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/sudan.pdf|title=Shareholder Proposal Regarding Berkshire's Investment In PetroChina|publisher=Berkshire Hathaway|archive-date=May 28, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528073557/http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/sudan.pdf|url-status=live}} on Berkshire Hathaway's website stating why he would not divest over its connection with the Sudanese civil war that caused Harvard to divest. He sold this stake soon afterwards, sparing him the billions of dollars he would have lost had he held on to the company in the midst of the steep drop in oil prices beginning in the summer of 2008. In October 2008, Buffett invested $230 million for 10% of battery maker BYD Company ({{Hong Kong Stock Exchange|1211}}), which also operates an electric automobile manufacturing subsidiary. In less than one year, the investment reaped over 500% return.{{cite web|access-date=September 16, 2009|url=http://www.chinastakes.com/2009/9/warren-buffets-500-return-from-byd-the-show-just-begun.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906140143/http://www.chinastakes.com/2009/9/warren-buffets-500-return-from-byd-the-show-just-begun.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 6, 2009|title=Warren Buffett's 500% Return from BYD: The Show Just Begun?|publisher=ChinaStakes}}

During the RJR Nabisco, Inc., hostile takeover fight in 1987, Buffett was quoted as telling John Gutfreund:{{cite book | author=Burrough, Bryan; Helyar, John | title=Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco | publisher=Harper & Row | location=New York | year=1990 | isbn=0-06-016172-8| title-link=Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco }}

{{blockquote|I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's fantastic brand loyalty.|Buffett|quoted in Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco}}

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s 1994 annual meeting, Buffett said investments in tobacco are:{{cite news |url=http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/whg85e00/pdf |title=Warren Buffett Cools on His Attraction to Tobacco Business |author=Jenell Wallace |agency=Bloomberg |publisher=Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, University of California San Diego Library |date=April 25, 1994 |access-date=March 17, 2009 |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830080143/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/whg85e00/pdf |url-status=live }}

{{blockquote|fraught with questions that relate to societal attitudes and those of the present administration. I would not like to have a significant percentage of my net worth invested in tobacco businesses. The economy of the business may be fine, but that doesn't mean it has a bright future.|Buffett|Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting }}

In 2007, Buffett's PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of his MidAmerican Energy Company, canceled six proposed coal-fired power plants. These included Utah's Intermountain Power Project Unit 3, Jim Bridger Unit 5, and four proposed plants previously included in PacifiCorp's Integrated Resource Plan. The cancellations came in the wake of pressure from regulators and citizen groups.{{Cite news|url=http://www.psc.utah.gov/utilities/electric/07docs/07203501/8-30-07petition.pdf |title=Utah Petition Encouraging Energy Diversification |publisher=Public Service Commission of Utah |date=July 28, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009121930/http://psc.utah.gov/utilities/electric/07docs/07203501/8-30-07petition.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2013}}

Native American tribes and salmon fishermen sought to win support from Buffett for a proposal to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River owned by PacifiCorp which is a Berkshire Hathaway company. David Sokol responded on Buffett's behalf, stating that the FERC would decide the question.{{cite journal|url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/topstories/2008-05-03-3055404993_x.htm|title=Buffett again rebuffs advocates who want Klamath dams out|author=Josh Funk|date=May 3, 2008|journal=USA Today|access-date=September 18, 2017|archive-date=October 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018081059/http://www.usatoday.com/money/topstories/2008-05-03-3055404993_x.htm|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Tucker|first=S. Craig|date=May 1, 2009|title=Klamath Dam Removal Advocates Call on Buffett's Company To Close the Deal, Remove Klamath Dams|url=https://calsport.org/dev/5-1-09.htm|website=California Sportfishing Protection Alliance|publisher=Karuk Tribe|access-date=October 9, 2020|archive-date=December 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201180843/https://calsport.org/dev/5-1-09.htm|url-status=live}}

He has been a strong proponent of stock option expensing on corporate income statements. At the 2004 annual meeting, he lambasted a bill before the United States Congress that would consider only some company-issued stock options compensation as an expense, likening the bill to one that was almost passed by the Indiana House of Representatives to change the value of Pi from 3.14159 to 3.2 through legislative fiat.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29807-2004Jul5.html |title=Warren Buffett, Fuzzy Math And Stock Options |page=A19 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 6, 2004 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906142850/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29807-2004Jul5.html |url-status=live }}

When a company gives something of value to its employees in return for their services, it is clearly a compensation expense. And if expenses don't belong in the earnings statement, where in the world do they belong?{{cite news |last=Buffett |first=Warren E. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01EFD81538F937A15754C0A9649C8B63&scp=1&sq=buffett%20cooks%20books&st=cse |title=Warren E. Buffett, Who Really Cooks the Books? |work=The New York Times |date=July 24, 2002 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021052600/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9b01efd81538f937a15754c0a9649c8b63 |archive-date=October 21, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

In May 2012, Buffett said he had avoided buying stock in high-technology companies such as Facebook and Google due to them being complex and difficult to understand on top of their concomitant complications from being hard to confidently estimate their future value. He also stated that initial public offering's (IPO) of new stock issues are almost always bad investments. Buffett has advised investors to look for companies that will have good value in ten years.{{cite news | title = Buffett on Facebook and Google: hard to estimate future value | date = May 7, 2012 | url = http://www.suntimes.com/business/12373627-420/buffett-on-facebook-and-google-hard-to-estimate-future-value.html | work = Chicago Sun-Times | agency = Associated Press | access-date = May 7, 2012 | archive-date = February 1, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130201200527/http://www.suntimes.com/business/12373627-420/buffett-on-facebook-and-google-hard-to-estimate-future-value.html | url-status = live }}

In an interview with CNBC in January 2018, Buffett said the recent craze over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies won't end well, adding that "when it happens or how or anything else, I don't know;" and later that year calling it, "rat poison squared." But he also said he would not take a short position on bitcoin futures.{{cite news | title = Buffett on cryptocurrencies: 'I can say almost with certainty that they will come to a bad ending' | date = January 10, 2018 | url = https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/10/buffett-says-cyrptocurrencies-will-almost-certainly-end-badly.html?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_content%3BRTR8Is%2B%2BTE2eh9STcXX9yw%3D%3D | work = CNBC | access-date = January 11, 2012 | archive-date = October 20, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181020140624/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/10/buffett-says-cyrptocurrencies-will-almost-certainly-end-badly.html?lipi=urn:li:page:d_flagship3_search_srp_content%3BRTR8Is%2B%2BTE2eh9STcXX9yw%3D%3D | url-status = live }}

In a June 2021 interview with CNBC, Buffet said that the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased economic inequality and bemoaned that most people are unaware that "hundreds of thousands or millions" of small businesses have been negatively impacted. He also stated that the markets and the economy will likely be unpredictable well into the post-pandemic recovery period, even with the Biden administration and the United States Federal Reserve having a plan in place. He said the unpredictability and the effects of COVID-19 are far from over.{{cite news |last=Li |first=Yun |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/29/warren-buffett-says-the-pandemic-has-had-an-extremely-uneven-impact-and-is-not-yet-over.html |title=Warren Buffett says the pandemic has had an 'extremely uneven' impact and is not yet over |work=CNBC |date=June 29, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630053611/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/29/warren-buffett-says-the-pandemic-has-had-an-extremely-uneven-impact-and-is-not-yet-over.html |archive-date=June 30, 2021 |access-date=June 30, 2021 }}

Aside from countless television appearances on various news programs (Adam Smith's Money World in 1985 reportedly being the first),{{cite news | date=May 4, 2024 | url=https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/berkshire-hathaway-meeting-warren-buffett-takes-questions-from-investors/card/warren-buffett-s-first-nationwide-tv-appearance-K8kIcWCaxnyokM7jqufb | title=Warren Buffett's first nationwide TV appearance | work=marketwatch.com }} Buffett has appeared in numerous films and TV programs, both documentary, and fiction. Some film and television cameos he has made include Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), The Office (U.S.), All My Children, and Entourage (2015).{{Cite web|title=Warren Buffett would like to clarify something about his 'Entourage' cameo|url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/here-s-why-warren-buffett-says-his-cameo-in-entourage-got-him-all-wrong-191838994.html|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=finance.yahoo.com|date=April 21, 2016|language=en-US|archive-date=January 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128135618/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/here-s-why-warren-buffett-says-his-cameo-in-entourage-got-him-all-wrong-191838994.html|url-status=live}} He has been a guest 10 times on Charlie Rose, and was the subject of the HBO documentary feature Becoming Warren Buffett (2017) and the BBC production The World's Greatest Money Maker (2009).

File:2018 Berkshire Sunday at Borsheims - 41039852065.jpg at Borsheims during the 2018 shareholder's weekend]]

In October 2008, USA Today reported at least 47 books were in print with Buffett's name in the title. The article quoted the CEO of Borders Books, George Jones, as saying that the only other living persons named in as many book titles were U.S. presidents, world political figures and the Dalai Lama.Del Jones, [https://www.usatoday.com/money/books/2008-10-22-buffett-books_N.htm "Book titles like to play the Warren Buffett name game,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018081107/http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/2008-10-22-buffett-books_N.htm |date=October 18, 2011 }} USA Today, October 22, 2008. Buffett said that his own personal favorite is a collection of his essays called The Essays of Warren Buffett,{{Cite book|title=The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Second Edition|publisher=The Cunningham Group|isbn=978-0-9664461-2-8|author=Buffett, Warren; Cunningham, Lawrence|year=2008}}

which he described as "a coherent rearrangement of ideas from my annual report letters".

Books or publications by Buffett:

• The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Warren Buffett and Lawrence A. Cunningham, The Cunningham Group; revised edition (April 11, 2001). {{ISBN|978-0-9664461-1-1}}.
• The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Second Edition, Warren E. Buffett and Lawrence A. Cunningham, The Cunningham Group; 2nd edition (April 14, 2008). {{ISBN|978-0-9664461-2-8}}.

Some best-selling, or otherwise notable, books about Buffett:

• Carol J. Loomis, Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966–2012: A Fortune Magazine Book.
• Preston Pysh, Warren Buffett's Three Favorite Books{{Cite book|title=Warren Buffett's Three Favorite Books: A guide to the Intelligent Investor, Security Analysis, and the Wealth of Nations|last=Pysh|first=Preston|publisher=Pylon Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-98296-762-1|date=September 15, 2011}} (an interactive book that references [http://www.buffettsbooks.com Buffett's Books] for online videos).
• Roger Lowenstein, Buffett, Making of an American Capitalist.
• Robert Hagstrom, The Warren Buffett Way.{{Cite book|title=The Warren Buffett Way|publisher=John Wiley|year=2005|isbn=0-471-74367-4|location=Hoboken, N.J.|last=Hagstrom |first=Robert G. |others=Miller, Bill R.; Fisher, Ken}}
• Alice Schroeder, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life{{Cite book|title=The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life|last=Schroeder|first=Alice|publisher=Bantam Dell Pub Group 2008.|isbn=978-0-553-80509-3|author-link=Alice Schroeder|year=2008}} (written with Buffett's cooperation).Janet Maslin, [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/books/29masl.html?_r=1 "Books of The Times: The Richest Man and How He Grew (and Grew His Company, Too),"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219142419/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/books/29masl.html?_r=1 |date=February 19, 2017 }} The New York Times, September 28, 2008.
• Mary Buffett and David Clark, Buffettology{{Cite book|title=Buffettology: The Previously Unexplained Techniques That Have Made Warren Buffett The World's Most Famous Investor|last2=Clark|first2=David|publisher=Scribner|isbn=978-0-684-84821-1|last1=Buffett|first1=Mary|date=June 8, 1999|url=https://archive.org/details/buffettologyprev00mary}} and four subsequent books (combined sales of more than 1.5 million copies).
• Janet Lowe, Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor.{{Cite book|title=Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor|last=Lowe|first=Janet|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-470-15262-1|author-link=Janet Lowe|date=August 31, 2007}}
• John Train, The Midas Touch: The Strategies That Have Made Warren Buffett 'America's Preeminent Investor'.{{Cite book|title=The midas touch: the strategies that have made Warren Buffett America's pre-eminent investor|last=Train|first=John|publisher=Harper & Row|year=1987|isbn=978-0-06-015643-5|location=New York|author-link=John Train (investment advisor)}}
• Andrew Kilpatrick, Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett{{Cite book|title=Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett/2008 Cosmic Edition/2 volumes|last=Kilpatrick|first=Andrew|year=2008|publisher=Andy Kilpatrick Publishing Empire (AKPE)|isbn=978-1-57864-455-1}} (the longest of the books about Buffett, with 330 chapters, 1,874 pages and 1,400 photos, weighing 10.2 pounds).
• {{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=OOZWykmT-KUC|page=26}}|title=Warren Buffett Wealth: Principles and Practical Methods Used by the World's Greatest Investor|author=Robert P. Miles|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|year=2004|isbn=978-0-471-46511-9}}
• John P. Reese, "The Guru Investor: How to Beat the Market Using History's Best Investment Strategies"{{Cite book|title=The Guru Investor: How to Beat the Market Using History's Best Investment Strategies|last=Reese|first=John P.|publisher=Wiley|year=2009|isbn=978-0-470-37709-3|author-link=John P. Reese|author2=Jack Forehand}} (includes step-by-step stock-picking method based on Buffett's approach).
• {{cite book|last=Tavakoli|first=Janet M.|title=Dear Mr. Buffett: What an Investor Learns 1,269 Miles from Wall Street|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zQODcD4D6RYC}}|date=January 6, 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-44273-9}}
• {{Cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=KOfx6ua3SdgC}}|title=Even Buffett Isn't Perfect: What You Can--and Can't--Learn from the World's Greatest Investor|last=Janjigian|first=Vahan|date=May 1, 2008|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781440631474}}

• Buffett indicator

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite magazine |last=Schwartz |first=Mattathias |date= January 2010|title=The Church of Warren Buffett |magazine=Harper's |volume=320 |issue=1916 |pages=27–35 |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2010/01/the-church-of-warren-buffett/|access-date=July 14, 2013}}
• {{cite journal |last=Rojas |first=Claudio R. |year=2014 |title=An Indeterminate Theory of Canadian Corporate Law|journal=University of British Columbia Law Review |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=59–128 ("The author's perspective on Berkshire Hathaway's investment philosophy was informed by discussions with Warren Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska": pp. 59, 122–124)|ssrn=2391775}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ Berkshire Hathaway official website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130409020602/http://thebuffett.com/ The Buffett]
• [http://www.dividendgrowthinvestor.com/2009/07/buffett-partnership-letters.html Buffett Partnership Letters]
• [https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/ Forbes Profile]
• {{cite web |url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html |title= Warren Buffett's Letters to Shareholders |publisher=Berkshire Hathaway}}
• [https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001067983&type=13f&dateb=&owner=exclude&count=40 Berkshire Hathaway SEC 13F Filings]
• {{C-SPAN}}
• {{Charlie Rose guest|5110}}
• {{New York Times topic|people/b/warren_e_buffett}}
• {{Guardian topic}}
• {{cite news|title=FACTBOX: Warren Buffett at a glance|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1223441620080212|work=Reuters |first=Jonathan|last=Stempel | date=February 12, 2008}}

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