30 August 1930: Warren Buffett is born in Omaha
Warren Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, during the early months of the Great Depression. He bought his first stock at age 11 and later turned a struggling textile company, Berkshire Hathaway, into one of the largest conglomerates in the world. His approach was famously simple: buy wonderful businesses at sensible prices, and hold them for a very long time. Compounding and patience did the rest.
The lesson: Simple principles applied patiently over decades beat clever strategies applied for a few years.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway at the start of 2000 → $12,500 today, vs $4,626 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 2000, the first year in our price data after the event. That is 12.5 times the money, and $7,874 more than a plain index fund made over the same years.
What Berkshire Hathaway teaches: Being willing to look foolish during a mania, and keeping cash for the moment others are forced to sell, is a durable source of returns.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $40.00 | $12,500 | $4,626 |
| 2003 | $48.00 | $10,417 | $7,727 |
| 2005 | $59.00 | $8,475 | $5,763 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought Berkshire Hathaway? Every starting year and the full story →
More Berkshire Hathaway history
- 14 February 2013: Berkshire and 3G buy Heinz
- 28 February 2009: Buffett's letter: beware of geeks bearing formulas
- 10 May 1965: Warren Buffett takes control of Berkshire Hathaway
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
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