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Business Heroes: Warren Buffett the Modest Billionaire
Warren Buffett could perhaps be the most prolific investor of all time. Known as the "Oracle of Omaha", he possesses more money than 99.9999998878% of the world's population. According to the Forbes List of Billionaires, Warren Buffett ranks third in the world with an estimated net worth of $52 billion. Despite his fortune, he lives quite modestly on his salary of $100,000 per year. Some people even go so far as to categorize him as a tightwad. His modesty and frugality might have much to do with his upbringing and the era during which he grew up. Warren Buffett put in many, many years of hard work to make to where he is today.

Mr. Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska during the Great Depression on August 30, 1930, to then Nebraska Congressman and stock broker Howard Buffett. Buffett exhibited an affinity for business and entrepreneurship at an early age. When he was six he would buy a six-pack of Coke and then sell it at 5 cents a bottle for a 5 cent total profit. Buffett bought his first share of stock at the age of 11. He bought one share of Cities Services for $38.25 and sold it at $40, only to see Cities Services rocket up to $200 per share a few years later. This lesson in long term investing proved to be very valuable for Mr. Buffett, as he only thinks and invest for the long term today.
Young Warren Buffett continued to be a very successful entrepreneur all throughout his high school years. In 1944 Buffett started Wilson Coin Op, a pinball machine company. With his $1200 share from that Wilson he bought a plot of farmland and rented it to tenant farmers. By the time Buffett graduated from high school at the age of 16 he had a residual income of $5000. Impressed with his own success as an entrepreneur, Buffett decided college would be a waste of his time. His father's persuasions prevailed however, and Buffett went off to college.
He attended Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for three years and then transferred back home to the University of Nebraska where he took quite an interested in investments after reading Benjamin Graham's book "The Intelligent Investor." Buffett studied under Graham at Columbia University, and eventually began to work at Graham's investment firm. Upon Graham's retirement Buffett started his own investment partnership with $100 of his own and $105,000 from 7 other partners. Buffett's main goal was to beat the Dow's 10% average return.

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