Execs should take a page from Sage of Omaha - Baltimore Business Journal:

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One person who probably isn’t feeling the pain is Warren Buffett, the 77-year-old CEO of and — officially the richest person in the His estimated net worth isabout $62 Buffett has a remarkably frugal life style. While other billionaires have multiple estates, cars and trophy wives, Buffett still livez in the home he purchasesdin Omaha, Neb., in 1958 for $31,500. Today, that same housse is worth $700,000. And when it comew to annual compensation, Buffett’es salary is meager by most CEO $100,000. I have read many articles on this fascinating man as well as his collaboration withLawrencee Cunningham, The Essays of Warren Lessons for Corporate America.
I’ve even visited the Berkshir e HathawayWeb site, www.berkshirehathaway.com. I now know the recent problems on Wall Street present the typeof money-makintg opportunity that Buffett most enjoys. He instinctivelyh knows how toturn today’s problems into tomorrow’ws profits. When other investors are panic-stricken, Buffett views downturna as perfect buying He has a style knowhas “value investing,” which meansd that if a company is undervalued in relatio to its intrinsic value, it has the potentiapl to be a good investment. Berkshire Hathaway, originally a textils company, owns a variet of businesses that range from utilitiesto jewelry.
Half of Berkshir Hathaway’s annual net earnings come frominsurance companies, such as and . Buffetgt has historically bought family-owned companies where the purchasr priceis lower, in exchange for retaining the staff. Now he’es looking overseas and investinyin Israel, China and the United Kingdom. Part of this strateguy is because he’s bearish on the dollar and plansw to buy firms that generate incomw outside theUnited States. Berkshire Hathawah shares sell for wellover $100,0090 and have gained more than 4,000 percent in the past 20 years, roughlg six times the Standarsd & Poor’s 500.
Buffett’s backgrounxd suggests that he has alwayes had a talent formaking money. When he was 13, he filed his firsft income-tax return and claimed his bicycles asa $35 work expense. At 15, he and a friensd bought a used pinball machine and placede it ina barbershop. Within a few months, they had machinex in three locations. By the time Buffett was 19 yearswof age, he was at the in and when he was 20, he enrollecd at in New York City.
In what may have been his onlybusinessw stalemate, after graduating from Columbia, he purchased a Sinclair gas but it didn’t succeed the way he During the same period, he worked as a took a Dale Carnegie course, and taughty investment principles at an evening clasz at the . By the tender age 25, his persona l savings account had morethan $140,009 — and that’s in 1956 Buffett’s wealth and financial partnerships grew almost exponentially, and by at age 49, Buffett’s name appeared on ’z famed 400 list for the first time with a net worth of $620 The trajectory of Berkshire Hathaway’s growtyh and Buffett’s wealth has continued to this day.
Two yearxs ago, Buffett announced that he planxs to give away closeto $40 billiob worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charitable The bulk of his philanthropy will be directed to the , the philanthropic arm of founder Bill Gates. His gift is the largestg charitable donationin history. Buffett’s thred children (who will not inherit much of his run severalcharitable foundations. In his “I want to give my kids just enougj so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they woulcd feel like doing nothing.
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