History of Warren Buffett

On August 30, 1930, Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the second of three children and the only son of Leila (née Stahl) and Congressman Howard Buffett.

Buffett began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School in 1942.

Buffett graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947.

Buffett entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947.

Buffett graduated from the University of Nebraska at the age of 19.

Buffett went on to graduate from Columbia Business School, where he molded his investment philosophy around the concept of value investing in 1951.

In 1952, Buffett married Susan Thompson at Dundee Presbyterian Church.

In July 30, 1953, Buffett and Susan Thompson had their first child, Susan Alice.

Buffett worked as an investment salesman; from 1954 to 1956 at Graham-Newman Corp.

In December 16, 1954, Buffett and Susan Thompson had their second child, Howard Graham.

Buffett created Buffett Partnership, Ltd in 1956.

Buffett worked as a securities analyst; from 1956 to 1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd.

In May 4, 1958, the Buffetts' third child, Peter Andrew, was born.

By 1960, Buffett operated seven partnerships.

In 1961, Buffett revealed that 35% of the partnership's assets were invested in the Sanborn Map Company.

In 1962, Buffett became a millionaire because of his partnerships.

Buffett's firm acquired a textile manufacturing firm called Berkshire Hathaway, assuming its name to create a diversified holding company.

In 1966, Buffett closed the partnership to new money.

Buffett has been the chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway since 1970.

In 1973, Berkshire began to acquire stock in The Washington Post Company (Now, Graham Holdings Company).

Buffett became close friends with Katharine Graham, who controlled the company (The Washington Post Company) and its flagship newspaper, and joined its board.

In 1978, Charlie Munger joined Buffett and became vice chairman of the company.

In 1985, the last of the mills that had been the core business of Berkshire Hathaway was sold.

Buffett moved the business into the insurance sector.

In 1987, Berkshire Hathaway purchased a 12% stake in Salomon Inc., making it the largest shareholder and Buffett a director.

In 1988, Buffett began buying The Coca-Cola Company stock, eventually purchasing up to 7% of the company for $1.02 billion.

Buffett became a billionaire when Berkshire Hathaway began selling class A shares on May 29, 1990.

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.

In 2002, Buffett entered in $11 billion worth of forward contracts to deliver U.S. dollars against other currencies.

The trade deficit induced Buffett to enter the foreign currency market for the first time in 2002.

Buffett's wife (Susan Buffett) died on July 29, 2004.

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.

In 2006, Buffett auctioned his 2001 Lincoln Town Car on eBay to raise money for Girls, Inc.

By April 2006, his total gain on these contracts (forward contracts) was over $2 billion.

In June 2006, Buffett announced that he gradually would give away 85% of his Berkshire holdings to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, the largest contribution would go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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.

In 2008, Buffett became the richest person in the world, with a total net worth estimated at $62 billion.

On July 2, 2008, Buffett attended a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Obama's campaign in Chicago.

In October 2008, Buffett invested $230 million for 10% of battery maker BYD Company, which runs a subsidiary of electric automobile manufacturer BYD Auto. In less than one year, the investment reaped over 500% return.

In October 2008, the media reported that Buffett had agreed to buy General Electric (GE) preferred stock.

In 2009, Buffett invested $2.6 billion as a part of Swiss Re's campaign to raise equity capital.

In 2009, Buffett acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp for $34 billion in cash and stock.

Buffett was the subject of the BBC production The World's Greatest Money Maker (2009).

In February 2009, Buffett sold some Procter & Gamble Co. shares from his personal portfolio.

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.

In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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.

In December 2011, Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings agreed to buy a $2 billion solar energy project under development in California and a 49 percent stake in a $1.8 billion plant in Arizona, his first investments in solar power. He already owned wind farms.

On April 11, 2012, Buffett was diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer during a routine test.

In May 2012, Buffett acquisition of Media General, consisting of 63 newspapers in the south-eastern U.S..

In May 2012, Buffett said he had avoided buying stock in new social media companies such as Facebook and Google because it is hard to estimate future value.

On September 15, 2012, Buffett announced that he had completed the full 44-day radiation treatment cycle.

On December 16, 2015, Buffett endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president.

On August 1, 2016, Buffett challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

On October 10, 2016, after another reference to him in the 2nd 2016 presidential debate, Buffett released his own tax return.

Buffett was the subject of the HBO documentary feature Becoming Warren Buffett (2017).

In 2018, after making almost $3.4 billion donations, Buffett was ranked 3rd in the Forbes' List of Billionaire 2018.

In May 2018, BYD's shares had a substantial fall with a total net investment loss of $9 billion. This was Buffett's worst investment in China.

In February 2009, Buffett sold some Johnson & Johnson shares from his personal portfolio.