San Francisco Frontiers - Warren Buffett: billionaire investor with simple tastes

Buffett studiously rejected exotic financial vehicles, as well as the brass-knuckle tactics of corporate raiders, adopting instead a buy-and-hold strategy of long-term investments.

His legacy: Berkshire Hathaway, the Nebraska-based conglomerate whose diverse holdings range from Duracell batteries to insurer Geico to paint brands to diamonds.

The company also holds carefully selected equity stakes in US corporate giants such as Coca-Cola and Chevron.

Now, at age 94, he is ready to step away from the company he built, announcing on Saturday that he plans to step down at year's end and will recommend that his chosen successor Greg Abel take his place as Berkshire CEO.

According to Forbes magazine's real-time rich list, as of Saturday, his net worth is $168.2 billion -- the fifth biggest fortune in the world.

Buffett has nevertheless avoided the trappings of the oft-maligned "one percent," eschewing big-ticket art collecting or fancy mansions around the world.

He still lives in the same house in a quiet neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500.

His gastronomic tastes are decidedly humble, including McDonald's Chicken McNuggets at least three times a week, potato chips for snacks, ice cream for dessert and an average of five cans of Coca-Cola per day.

His hobbies include bridge and playing the ukulele.

"I don't need fancy clothes," Buffett told CBS in 2013. "I don't need fancy food."

Yet he did acknowledge in 2006 that he owned a private jet, saying the splurge made his life easier.

- Philanthropy -

That same year, Buffett announced that he would donate 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes.

Joined by his friend and bridge partner Bill Gates, Buffett subsequently persuaded other billionaires to pledge to also donate at least half their wealth away.

Such campaigns have made Buffett a beloved figure within US society, helping to draw small investors to Berkshire's annual meeting each spring in Omaha, a gathering that has been dubbed a sort of "Woodstock for capitalists."

The investor has often used his platform to comment on economic policy, or to express pique on a wealth of topics, from the questionable value of bitcoin to US President Donald Trump's trade policies.

Buffett has been open in the past about supporting the Democratic Party, while also frequently expressing the view that his taxes should have been higher, given his wealth.

- Early business instincts -

Born on August 30, 1930 in Omaha as the second of three children, Buffett discovered an early taste for business after reading the book "One Thousand Ways to Make $1,000" as a young boy.

Buffett's childhood was not easy. He has described going through a shoplifting phase and being forced to navigate around his abusive mother Leila, who used to berate his sister Doris as "stupid."

He had planned to abandon his studies, but that idea was vetoed by his father, a businessman and politician who served in Congress.

He attended the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate before transferring to the University of Nebraska, where he graduated with a business degree.

He later received a Master's degree in economics from Columbia University in New York in 1951.

Buffett worked on Wall Street in the 1950s, establishing the Buffett Partnership, which merged in 1965 with Berkshire Hathaway, then a textile firm.

An avid reader of the financial press and beyond, Buffett gravitated toward investments that he believed were undervalued, holding them until they paid off.

He transformed Berkshire into a far-flung conglomerate known for investments in nuts-and-bolts sectors such as energy, banking, air travel and food. Holdings also include Citigroup, Kroger, Apple and American Express.

- Active in his 90s -

Donning classic gray suits, glasses and colored ties, the white-haired Buffett has remained a vibrant player on the US business scene into his 90s.

He long ran Berkshire with his longtime vice chairman Charlie Munger, six years his senior.

Then in 2021, as Buffett turned 90, Berkshire officially designated Abel as his successor -- a plan that appears now to be set into motion.

Buffett married his first wife Susan in 1952. They had three children. Though they lived apart for decades, they remained married until her death in 2004.

He subsequently married his long-time partner Astrid Menks in 2006.

Y.Harris--SFF