Warren Buffett American businessman and philanthropist

 What is Warren Buffett known for?

Warren Buffett, known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is an American businessman and philanthropist, widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. He has amassed a personal fortune of more than $60 billion by defying prevailing investment trends.

What is Warren Buffett's primary investment vehicle?

In 1965 Warren Buffett took majority control of the textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway Inc., turning it into his primary investment vehicle. From the 1960s through the ’90s Berkshire Hathaway’s publicly traded shares gained about 28 percent per year. Buffett’s success with Berkshire Hathaway made him one of the world’s wealthiest men.

Warren Buffett, or Warren Edward Buffett, is an American businessman and philanthropist who was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. He is widely regarded as the most successful investor of the 20th and early 21st centuries, having defied prevailing investment trends to amass a personal fortune of more than $100 billion.

Buffett, also referred to as the "Oracle of Omaha," was the son of Nebraskan U.S. Representative Howard Homan Buffett. He studied under Benjamin Graham at the Columbia University School of Business after receiving his B.S. from the University of Nebraska in 1950. (M.S., 1951). In 1965, Buffett acquired majority ownership of textile company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., making it his main investment vehicle. Buffett had moved back to Omaha in 1956. The major stock averages increased by 50% between the 1960s and the 1990s.

During the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–08, Buffett made a number of deals that, though questioned at the time, proved highly profitable. In September 2008 he invested $5 billion in the U.S.-based bank holding company Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and the following month Berkshire Hathaway purchased $3 billion in General Electric Company (GE) preferred stock. In November 2009 Buffett announced that Berkshire was buying the railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation for about $26 billion; the investment group already owned approximately 23 percent of the railroad. Berkshire Hathaway also had significant shareholdings in companies it did not control, including Coca Cola and Apple.