|
Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930, Omaha, Nebraska), often called the "Sage of Omaha" or the "Oracle of Omaha" , is an American investor, businessperson and philanthropist. Buffett has amassed an enormous fortune from astute investments managed through the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the largest shareholder and CEO. With an estimated current net worth of around US$52 billion, he was ranked by Forbes as the third-richest person in the world as of September 2007, behind Carlos Slim and Bill Gates. Buffett is renowned for his unconventional style and frugality despite his immense wealth. His 2006 annual salary of about $100,000 is tiny by the standards of senior executive remuneration in other comparable companies, and when he spent $9.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a corporate jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs. He continues to live in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska that he bought in 1958 for $31,500 , today valued at around $700,000. In addition to Buffett's iconic stature in the business world, he is a noted philanthropist. In 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The donation will amount to approximately US$30 billion, at the time of the announcement enough to more than double the size of the foundation. In 2007, Buffett was listed among Time 's 100 Most Influential People in The World.
|
