Buffett’s legendary career all began with an epiphany at age 10 when he was on a trip to New York City with his dad.
Dining with a member of the NYSE planted the idea in young Buffett’s head to organize his life around money.
He pulled this off by dutifully delivering the Washington Post.
Source: Business Insider
He had amassed the equivalent of $53,000 by the time he was just 16.
Paper delivery was just one of many small businesses teenage Buffett orchestrated: He sold used golf balls and stamps, buffed cars, set up a pinball machine business, and turned a horse track into a lucrative playground.
Source: Business Insider
He was rejected from Harvard Business School.
Buffett, confident he nailed his admissions interview, had already told a friend, “Join me at Harvard.”
“I looked about 16 and emotionally was about nine,” he recalled of the in-person interview. Forced to look elsewhere, he settled on Columbia University, which only required a written application and no interview.
Source: Business Insider
His idol refused to hire him the first time he applied.
Buffett originally wanted to work with his idol, and author of “The Intelligent Investor,” Benjamin Graham, but Graham rejected him because he wasn’t Jewish (Graham was saving a spot at his firm for someone Jewish, since at the time Jewish people had a tougher time landing work on Wall Street).
Buffett wouldn’t take no for an answer, and continued pitching Graham ideas until he eventually hired him.
Source: James Altucher
Buffett spent $100 to take a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking.
He was 21 and terrified of public speaking. It ended up being a worthy investment, as the course helped him propose to his wife.
Source: Business Insider
His house is a humble five-bedroom in Omaha, Nebraska, that he bought in 1956 for $31,500.
If you want to be Buffett’s neighbor, the house across the street will cost you about $2.15 million.
Source: James Altucher
Buffett doesn’t keep a computer on his desk, and he chooses to use a flip phone rather than a smartphone.
There is, however, a World Book Encyclopedia set on his shelf.
Source: James Altucher, Business Insider, and CNN
In fact, he’s only sent one email in his life, to Jeff Raikes of Microsoft.
His distance from technology leaves him time for bridge, which he plays about 12 hours a week.
Oftentimes, his bridge partner is Bill Gates.
Source: James Altucher
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He spends 80% of his day reading.
When he’s not playing bridge, he’s reading. “I just sit in my office and read all day,” he says.
Source: The Week
He drinks an alarming amount of Coca-Cola each day.
The business magnate is a notoriously unhealthy eater: “If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it everyday.”
He also likes to double-fist salt shakers, and don’t put it past him to enjoy a bowl of ice cream for breakfast.
Source: Business Insider
99% of Buffett’s wealth was earned after his 50th birthday.
Source: Fool
Among investing legends, Buffett has the longest track record for beating the market.
The longevity of Buffett’s outperformance is greater than that of other savvy investors, such as David Einhorn and Walter Schloss.
Source: Business Insider
$1,000 invested in Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1964, when Buffett took over the company and shares cost just $19, would be worth about $13 million dollars today.
Source: Business Insider, Markets Insider
Buffett’s net worth is greater than the GDP of Uruguay.
Uruguay’s 2014 GDP was estimated to be $57,471,277,325.
Though Buffett spends frugally, he gives generously. In 2010, he teamed up with Bill and Melinda Gates to form The Giving Pledge, an initiative that asks the world’s wealthiest people to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.