A nose for business
He exhibited a nose for business at a young age — long before he became one of the richest people in the world. When he was still in school, Buffett would buy chewing gum and cola from his grandfather’s store and sell them around his neighbourhood for a profit. At the age of 11, he purchased his first stock. As a teen, he along with a friend, invested in pinball machines that they stationed in barber shops, splitting the profits with the shop owners. By 15, he had bought 40 acres of farmland in Nebraska, US, using the proceeds from these business ventures.
Charting his own path
Buffett describes his philosophy as following his “inner scorecard”, which involves living life on his own terms and not worrying about what others think. He says he’s a Democrat, but over the years he has voted for and donated to both Democrats and Republicans. He’s not religious, describing himself as agnostic.
Sharing and caring
With Bill and Melinda French Gates, Buffett created ‘The Giving Pledge’, through which billionaires commit to giving at least half their fortunes to charity. But he’s going beyond that: “More than 99 per cent of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at death,” he pledged.
He has poured his charitable money into five foundations run by others, especially the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for which he served as a trustee until 2021. Upon stepping down, Buffett observed that he has
similarly exited all the corporate boards to which he used to belong because his “physical participation is in no way needed”.
