As one of the world's best-known investors and philanthropists espouses his business philosophy, a look at lesser-known aspects of the man they call the Oracle of Omaha
As one of the world's best-known investors and philanthropists espouses his business philosophy, a look at lesser-known aspects of the man they call the Oracle of Omaha
ADVERTISEMENT
Warren Buffett, Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in India
Here is a quotation from what he said in 1988 that highlights Warren Buffett's thoughts of his wealth and why he had long planned to re-allocate it.
"I don't have a problem with guilt about money. The way I see it is that my money represents an enormous number of claim checks on society. It's like I have these little pieces of paper that I can turn into consumption. If I wanted to, I could hire 10,000 people to do nothing but paint my picture every day for the rest of my life.
u00a0
And the GDP would go up. But the utility of the product would be zilch, and I would be keeping those 10,000 people from doing AIDS research, or teaching, or nursing.
I don't do that though. I don't use very many of those claim checks. There's nothing material I want very much. And I'm going to give virtually all of those claim checks to charity when my wife and I die."
Warren Buffett had once been quoted in a New York Times article saying, "I don't believe in dynastic wealth" calling those who grow up rich as, "members of the lucky sperm club."u00a0 He says that a market economy gives those born into money or simply lucky to have rich ancestors lopsided gains.
He has been quoted as saying rather humourously and memorably, "A market economy creates some lopsided payoffs to participants.
u00a0
The right endowment of vocal chords, anatomical structure, physical strength, or mental powers can produce enormous piles of claim checks (stocks, bonds, and other forms of capital) on future national output.
u00a0
Proper selection of ancestors similarly can result in lifetime supplies of such tickets upon birth. If zero real investment returns diverted a bit greater portion of the national output from such stockholders to equally worthy and hardworking citizens lacking jackpot-producing talents, it would seem unlikely to pose such an insult to an equitable world as to risk Divine Intervention."
According to a report, in a letter to Fortune magazine's website, Buffet wrote, "My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it serves our country well... I've worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mis-pricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate's distribution of long straws is wildly capricious."
Buffett practices what he preaches. It has been reported that his children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth, showing consistency with his philosophy about hereditary wealth. A report quotes Buffett as saying,u00a0 "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."
Some of his more prominent charity initiatives especially to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are well-known but Buffett has also auctioned his 2001 Lincoln Town Car on eBay to raise money for Girls, Inc. Girls, Inc. in the US is a non-profit organisation to empower girls.
In 2007, he auctioned a luncheon with himself for a huge sum for a charity and he also had an online 'Power Lunch with Warren Buffett' charity auction won by a bidder for a huge sum.
u00a0
Obviously, Buffett believes in bringing the moneyed to the Buffett table (pun intended) where there is much more than food for thought. One has read that Canada-based executives paid substantially to dine with him, once again for charity.
'When I come back, I will be 100'
Bangalore: Indian hospitality today received a strong endorsement from the world's third richest man, Warren Buffett, who said he was treated much better here than back in the US. "I am just overwhelmed by the welcome I have received from the moment we got here.
u00a0
They treat me much better in India than they do in the United States," said the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at a brief meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa yesterday morning. "I want to transport all this... I believe in free trade," he said in a lighter vein.
u00a0
"We had a great dinner last night... I met some very interesting people, had a great conversation. I couldn't feel more welcome and more delighted to be here," said Buffett.
"This is my first trip to India and the first foot I placed on Indian soil was in Bangalore... and it won't be the last," said the 80-year-old billionaire.
"When I come back, I will be 100 in 2030," he joked, but quickly added that he planned to come back much before that and was hopeful of seeing business expand here by then. "We want to be where the action is and the action is here," Buffett said.
I wanna be a Millionnaire
Some milestones in the Buffett saga that show when it came to making money; he showed a flair for it, even before he hit his teens.u00a0u00a0
Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930 to his parents Howard and Leila Buffett in Nebraska. Nebraska is in the centre of the USA.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Reports state that Buffett showed acumen for business even before he became a teenager. He was only 11 when he bought his first stock and bought six shares (three for his sister and three for himself) at the cost of $38 per share. He sold his share when it climbed to $40 a share.u00a0
This too has gone down into Warren lore. Buffett had declared to a family friend that he would be a millionaire by the time he turned 30, or he would jump off the tallest building in Omaha, a city in Nebraska State. Incidentally, he is known as the Oracle of Omaha.
He talks about keen, sharp interest in accumulating wealth early - from setting up pinball machines in barber shops, making it into a business by the time he was in his teens to investing his savings in farmland by the time he was 14.u00a0 He also delivered newspapers making money he could invest in for doing so.u00a0
Warrenisms
u00a0
The website https://www.warrenbuffett.com/warren-buffett-10-ways-to-get-rich/ has several insights into the Warren Buffett philosophy. These may not make you into a Bill Gates, or even a Warren Buffett for that matter, but it throws some light on the tenets he has based his life on.
1 Reinvest Your Profits: When you first make money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don't. Instead, reinvest the profits. Warren Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a friend bought a pinball machine (pinball is a type of game, which is usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible) to put in a barbershop. With the money they earned, they bought more machines until they had eight in different shops. When the friends sold the venture, Warren Buffett used the proceeds to buy stocks and to start another small business.
2 Be Willing To Be Different: Don't base your decisions upon what everyone is saying or doing. When Warren Buffett began managing money in 1956 with $100,000 cobbled together from a handful of investors, he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, which is the largest city in the state of Nebraska (USA), not Wall Street, and he refused to tell his parents where he was putting their money.
3 Never Suck Your Thumb: Gather in advance any information you need to make a decision, and ask a friend or relative to make sure that you stick to a deadline. Warren Buffett prides himself on swiftly making up his mind and acting on it. He calls any unnecessary sitting and thinking, "thumb sucking."u00a0
4 Spell Out The Deal Before You Start: Your bargaining leverage is always greatest before you begin a job because that's when you have something to offer that the other party wants. Warren Buffett learned this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Ernest hired him and a friend to dig out the family grocery store after a blizzard. The boys spent five hours shovelling until they could barely straighten their frozen hands. Afterward, his grandfather gave the pair less than 90 cents to split. Warren Buffett was horrified that he performed such backbreaking work only to earn pennies an hour. Always nail down the specifics of a deal in advance even with your friends and relatives.
5 Watch Small Expenses: Warren Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsessed over the tiniest costs. He once acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only on the side of his office building that faced the road. Exercising vigilance over every expense can make your profits and your pay cheque go much further.
6 Limit What You Borrow: Living on credit cards and loans won't make you rich. Warren Buffett has never borrowed a significant amount ufffd not to invest, not for a mortgage. His advice: Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you're debt-free, work on saving some money that you can use to invest.
7 Be Persistent: With tenacity and ingenuity, you can win against a more established competitor. Warren Buffett acquired the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 because he liked the way its founder, Rose Blumkin, did business. A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless negotiator. To Warren Buffett, Rose embodied the unwavering courage that makes a winner out of an underdog.
8 Know When To Quit: Once, when Warren Buffett was a teen, he went to the racetrack. He bet on a race and lost. To recoup his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again, leaving him with close to nothing. He felt sick -- he had squandered nearly a week's earnings. Warren Buffett never repeated that mistake. Know when to walk away from a loss.
9 Assess The Risk: In 1995, the employer of Warren Buffett's son, Howie, was accused by the FBI of price-fixing. Warren Buffett advised Howie to imagine the worst-and-best-case scenarios if he stayed with the company. His son quickly realised that the risks of staying far outweighed any potential gains, and he quit the next day.
10 Know What Success Really Means: Despite his wealth, Warren Buffett does not measure success by dollars. In 2006, he pledged to give away almost his entire fortune to charities, primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He's adamant about not funding monuments to himself - ufffdno Warren Buffett buildings or halls. "I know people who have a lot of money," he says, "and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them."
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
