Warren Buffett

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Warren Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway for six decades before stepping down as CEO in 2025 and chair in 2026.

Mario Tama—Getty Images/Thinkstock

Warren Buffett (born August 30, 1930, Omaha, Nebraska) is an American businessman and philanthropist, widely considered one of the most successful investors of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett was the son of U.S. Representative Howard Homan Buffett of Nebraska. After graduating from the University of Nebraska (B.S., 1950), he studied with Benjamin Graham at the Columbia University School of Business (M.S., 1951).

In 1956, Buffett returned to Omaha and nine years later took majority control of the textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway Inc., turning it into his primary investment vehicle.

From the 1960s through the 1990s, major U.S. stock averages rose by roughly 11% annually, while Berkshire Hathaway’s publicly traded shares gained about 28% a year. Though Buffett’s success with Berkshire Hathaway made him one of the world’s wealthiest men, he eschewed lavish spending and criticized governmental policies and taxation that favored the rich over the middle or lower classes.

In May 2025, Buffett announced that Berkshire vice chairman Greg Abel would succeed him as CEO at the end of the year. Abel assumed the role on January 1, 2026, ending Buffett’s six-decade tenure as chief executive. On September 18, 2026, Buffett stepped down as chair, and his son Howard Buffett, a Berkshire director since 1993, succeeded him. Warren Buffett became chair emeritus and remains on the board as a director.

In June 2006, Buffett said he would donate more than 80% of his wealth to charitable foundations; in 2020 he raised that commitment to 99%.

The main recipient was the Gates Foundation—created by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates—which focused on issues of world health and education. Bill Gates and Buffett had maintained a close friendship since the early 1990s.

Other organizations receiving donations included foundations run by Buffett’s three children and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. Named for his late wife, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation focused on women’s reproductive rights and funded college scholarship programs.

In 2010, Buffett and the Gateses created the Giving Pledge, an invitation to other wealthy individuals to donate the majority of their fortune to charities.

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Warren Buffett and President Barack Obama during a White House meeting in 2011.

Pete Souza—Official White House Photo

During the financial crisis of 2007–08, Buffett made a number of deals that, though questioned at the time, proved highly profitable.

In September 2008, he invested $5 billion in the U.S.-based bank holding company Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS), and the following month Berkshire Hathaway purchased $3 billion in General Electric Company (GE) preferred stock.

In November 2009, Buffett said Berkshire was buying Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation for about $26 billion; the investment group already owned 23% of the railroad.

Berkshire Hathaway also had significant shareholdings in companies it didn’t control, including Coca-Cola (KO) and Apple (AAPL).

In 2011, Buffett was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Often praised for his clarity of thought and plainspoken wisdom, Buffett became a singular figure in the investing world. His annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders were widely read for their insights into not only financial markets but also leadership, risk, and ethics. Despite amassing extraordinary wealth, he was known for his modest lifestyle, living in the same Omaha home he bought in 1958 and famously enjoying simple pleasures like Coca-Cola and fast food.

He also stood out for his long-term investment philosophy, often summarized by his preference for buying “wonderful companies at fair prices” and holding them indefinitely. That approach contrasted with the short-term focus of many institutional investors and influenced generations of portfolio managers and individual investors.

Buffett’s legacy extended beyond financial performance. He helped popularize the idea that extreme wealth carries a moral obligation to benefit society—a view he embodied through his philanthropy and the Giving Pledge. Even after stepping down from Berkshire Hathaway’s leadership, his values and investment philosophy remained deeply embedded in the company’s culture.