Warren Buffett is often called the Oracle of Omaha and with good cause! His $65 billion fortune makes him the third richest person in the world, behind his good friend Bill Gates and Zara founder Amancio Ortega.
There are many legends surrounding Buffett and his amazing fortune. He started following the stock market when he was 11 years old. He eats a diet filled with soda and junk food and his net worth is greater than the GDP of the entire country of Uruguay. He still lives in the relatively modest home he bought decades ago. Suffice it to say, Buffett is a bit of a character and a loveable one at that.
Inspired by the legends and lore surrounding Warren Buffett and his fortune, we've rounded up 11 Mind Blowing Facts about the Oracle of Omaha.
#11. When you were in elementary school what did you want to be? A teacher? A baseball player? Not the budding Oracle of Omaha. When he was 10 years old he was having lunch with someone from the New York Stock Exchange and setting his goals for his entire life. After that lunch, young Buffett knew that he wanted his life to revolve around money. A year later, when he was 11 years old, he bought his first stock.
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#10. By the time Buffett was a teenager, he was making around $175 a month. For perspective, that was more money than his teachers made, and, in fact, more than most adults made in that day and age. He was a paperboy delivering the Washington Post, but he also sold stamps, had a pinball machine business, sold used golf balls, and turned a former horse track into a playground. He was a go-getter.
#9. Buffett still lives in the modest five-bedroom house he bought in Omaha, Nebraska in 1956 for $31,500. Today, a house can be had in the same neighborhood for around $2 million.
#8. Warren Buffet doesn't have a computer on his desk. He also uses a flip phone rather than an iPhone or Android. He's also only sent one email in his entire life–to Microsoft's Jeff Raikes.
#7. Buffett is a legendarily unhealthy eater and consumes a ton of Coca-Cola every single day. He has said:
"If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it everyday."
Buffett has also been known to eat ice cream for breakfast. Hey, why not? Life is short. Ice cream is delicious.
#6. It is never too late to make it. 99% of Buffett's $65 billion was made after he turned 50 years old.
#5. If you had invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1964—the year Buffett took over the company—that stock would be worth roughly $13 million today.
#4. Buffett may live frugally, but he gives generously and encourages others to do the same. In 2010, together with Bill and Melinda Gates, he formed The Giving Pledge, which asks the world's wealthiest people to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. As of June 2016, more than 154 affluent individuals have signed the pledge, including Sara Blakely, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison.
#3. In July 2016, Buffett broke the record for giving (which he set) when he donated a whopping $2.9 billion to charity.
#2. Since 2000, Buffett has been auctioning off a lunch with him at his charity event benefiting the GLIDE Foundation. GLIDE'S mission is to create a radically inclusive, just and loving community. The winner gets to bring up to seven people to lunch with Buffett at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in Manhattan. The most recent winner paid $3,456,789 to lunch with the Oracle of Omaha.
#1. Warren Buffett doesn't think money equals success. Instead, he has said: "I measure success by how many people love me. And the best way to be loved is to be lovable." Spoken like a true Oracle.
