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Warren Buffett celebrates his 96th birthday today, his first since leaving the role he held for 55 years. He remains Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and still shows up at the office five days a week.

Buffett was born in Omaha on August 30, 1930, during the depths of the Great Depression. His father worked as a stockbroker before later becoming a congressman.

His business instincts showed early. He sold candy door to door at six, bought his first stock at 11, filed his first tax return at 13, and had saved $85,000 by age 16.

After studying at Wharton and Columbia, Buffett learned value investing under Benjamin Graham. He launched Buffett Partnership in Omaha back in 1956, applying those early lessons directly.

At first, Buffett hunted for undervalued “cigar butt” stocks nearing the end of their worth. That strategy shifted after he met Charlie Munger in 1959. Munger pushed him toward buying “wonderful companies at fair prices” instead.

Buffett applied this new thinking in 1965 when he took over Berkshire Hathaway, then a failing textile company. A soured business deal with management sparked the takeover, which later became the cornerstone of his career.

Over the decades, Buffett turned Berkshire into a sprawling insurance and investment empire. The company scooped up names like See’s Candies, Geico, and BNSF Railway along the way.

Its insurance arm gave Buffett access to cheap capital, known as “float,” which he could reinvest elsewhere. This steady stream of funds became central to Berkshire’s growth strategy.

Between 1964 and 2025, Berkshire’s stock soared roughly 6,100,000%. The S&P 500 managed just 46,000% growth over the same stretch. Berkshire’s total value crossed the trillion-dollar mark in late 2024.

On January 1, 2026, Greg Abel took over as Berkshire’s CEO. This ended Buffett’s 55-year run at the helm, though he still holds the chairman title.

One of his more recent bets was Alphabet. Buffett personally led Berkshire’s initial $38 billion investment in Google’s parent company. It now ranks as Berkshire’s third-largest holding, behind only Apple and American Express.

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