Many people believe that Warren Buffett is the greatest investor that has ever lived, and it's really hard to argue with that. Berkshire Hathaway, which is the conglomerate that Warren Buffett controls, is currently worth over $222 billion. Thanks to his stake in the company, Buffett is worth tens of billions of dollars.
Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in the '60s through his various partnerships. Buffett's partnerships starting buying up Berkshire Hathaway at $7.60 per share. A short while later, Buffett took control of the company and named a new President.
The insurance group is the heart and soul of Berkshire Hathaway's operations. Berkshire Hathaway currently owns GEICO and General Re. The insurance operations provide Berkshire Hathaway with a multi-billion dollar "float" that can be be put to use in long-term investments for the company's benefit.
Warren Buffett believes in investing in businesses that he can understand. In addition, he has a high regard for companies that throw off large amounts of positive cash flow every year.
Berkshire Hathaway has taken some very large positions in well-known companies throughout the years. Some of the centerpieces of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio have included Coca-Cola, American Express, Gillette and the Washington Post.
Thousands of people flock to the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder's meeting every year, eager to listen to Buffett answer questions about his company and the economy in general. The annual meeting has become known as "Woodstock for capitalists". Buffett's annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders are also extremely popular.
Buffett has received his share of criticism over the years. During the dot-com boom, Buffett was mocked for not investing in high-flying Internet stocks. Buffett refused to do so, arguing that he didn't understand the companies or their valuations. In the end, Buffett was vindicated when the bubble popped.
In addition, Buffett has been accused by some of unfairly profiting off of the financial crisis of 2008. Berkshire Hathaway was able to land some very good deals during the height of the meltdown, including a well-publicized deal with Goldman Sachs. In the end, Buffett is in the business of making money for his shareholders and can't be faulted for doing so.
As of the end of 2011, Berkshire Hathaway had posted an annual percentage gain of 19.8% in terms of the per-share book value of the company. This works out to an overall gain of 513,055% from 1965 to 2011.
The S&P 500, on the other hand, gained 9.2% per year from 1965-2011, for an overall gain of 6,397%.
Buffett, who has already given away a substantial amount of his wealth to charity, has promised to donate nearly all of his money to charity when he passes away.
Warren Buffett has never gotten caught up in his wealth - he still lives in the same Omaha house that he purchased in 1957 for $31,500.
As of the time that this article was written, Buffett owned 350,000 Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway and 3,770,934 Class B shares. The Class A shares are worth tens of billions of dollars, while the Class B shares were valued at $337,649,430.36.
Warren Buffett takes a $100,000 salary per year from Berkshire Hathaway.
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