Young Entrepreneurs: Part II. Warren Buffett- the path to lasting success

This is the Key To Lasting Wealth.Two prime examples: a millionaire Austrian businessman, and Warren Buffett, a billionaire American investor.

Both men know how to earn money, but they are examples of two different approaches to and beliefs about money. By seeing the results of different goals and values in life in these two true stories, you will be able to rethink your life and your own possibilities, avoid making mistakes and realize your own achievements.

Warren Buffett,  aged 80.  Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.

In 2008 Warren Buffet, American investor, businessman and philanthropist, was the richest man in the world, worth $62 billion. According to Forbes, he was dethroned in 2009 by Bill Gates – one of his best friends – dropping him down to the second wealthiest man in the world at $37 billion. An American investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the most successful investors of all time.

His Story

Buffet was born in 1930, in the heart of the American Depression. He started working at his grandfather’s grocery store early on in his life, slowly building up his financial consciousness and imagination. He bought a pinball machine at the age of 15 and placed it in the local barber shop, and was soon installing two more. He received his diploma in economics from Columbia University in 1951, and went on to work for several companies, gaining experience in stock investment and building valuable partnerships. He has always valued mentors who have became his great friends, like  Benjamin Graham, Phil Fisher, Walter Schloss and Charlie Munger. Buffett was once asked: “What’s the first thing that someone ought to do in order to become wealthy?” His response was, “Invest in yourself. That’s number one.”

He became a millionaire at the age of 32 due to his partnerships. He discovered Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturing firm, and took control of it by purchasing its shares. He also started investing in private companies like Hochschild, Kohn and Co, a department store in Baltimore. In 1979 his net worth reached $620 million. He owns stock in Coca-Cola, ABC and Salomon Inc. His continued investments made him the richest man in the world by 2008. He has three children, lives in a five bedroom house that he purchased in 1958 in Omaha, and has another home in Laguna Beach, California.

Philanthropy

As Buffet says, “I don’t have a problem with guilt about money…. There’s nothing material I want very much.” He is planning to give away his fortune to worthy charities like the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation at the end of his life.  As of June 2006, he had already donated shares of his Berkshire Hathaway worth $30.7 billion to the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, and has given $50 million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington. He is certain that giving money to his children would not be a good investment for their future, as such wealth should be spent in a way that would benefit the world as a whole. He said about his children: “I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing”.

He has spent his life doing what he is best at: earning money, making investments, doing business, and all with honesty and an ongoing education. Due to his ability to multiply his fortune, he has created vast amounts of money that can make a difference in the world if spent well. Plus he is a continual inspiration for aspiring investors, philanthropists and politicians. He uses money without being used by money.

The Buffett System

He lives surrounded by a small circle of loyal friends, supporting solutions to major problems of the world, in a happy relationship with his second wife, influencing new generations of young investors and setting up a guide for ethics in the business world.

What’s behind his lasting success?

Dreams Let Us Fly.

To read a true story of a millionaire from Austria click here:  “Young Entrepreneurs: Part I“

To read the part III of the story click here:  ” Young Entrepreneurs”

We have recently published an article on the topic of Warren Buffett and Jay-Z. You may be surprised what they have in common. And how close they are to each other. Read the article here: Take Warren Buffett and Jay-Z, put them in the same room. What happens next?