17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (2024)

Table of Contents
99% of Buffett's wealth was earned after his 50th birthday. Berkshire's Book Value beat the S&P 500 in 43 out of 44 years on a five-year rolling average basis. Among legends, Buffett has the longest track record for beating the market. Buffett's net worth of $63.3 billion is greater than the combined 2013 GDP of Ghana and Cambodia. In 2013, Buffett made on average $37 million per day — that's more than what Jennifer Lawrence made the entire year. You could pay the college tuition of six NYU students with what Buffett made in a single hour in 2013. Buffett made his first stock purchase the same year that Pearl Harbor was bombed. Buffett has so far donated enough money in his lifetime to build four Apple "Spaceship" Campuses. You could increase the annual salary of every North Korean living in Pyongyang by 50% if you took Buffett's donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and distributed it evenly to them. Buffett is "ready" to double his investment in renewable energy — bringing the total to an amount that could build 46 Burj Al Arabs. In 2014, a Singapore man bid $2.2 million for lunch with Buffett. That amount could've provided 9,746 students with a calculus textbook. Berkshire Hathaway's cash balance is at $50 billion — that's equal to the entire GDP of South Dakota plus 45 Airbus A318s. If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1970, that amount would be $4.86 million higher today. If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1980, that amount would be $532,165 higher today. If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1990, that amount would be $29,785 higher today. If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 2000, that amount would be $3,218 higher today. Want to see more staggering facts?

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Elena Holodny

2014-08-14T10:06:00Z

Warren Buffett has been incredibly successful, and he's extremely wealthy. Warren Buffett's wealth jumped by around $12.7 billion in 2013alone.But how much is$12.7 billion anyway?

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And how good an investor is Warren Buffett really? We've put together some facts that really put him in perspective.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (1)

REUTERS/Rick Wilking

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99% of Buffett's wealth was earned after his 50th birthday.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (2)

Will Clayton/Flickr

Buffett made $62.7 billion of his$63.3 billion net worth after his 50th birthday.

$60 billion — nearly 95% — is from after his 60th birthday.

Talk about long-term investment strategies.

Source: Fool

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Berkshire's Book Value beat the S&P 500 in 43 out of 44 years on a five-year rolling average basis.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (3)

Steven Perlberg / Business Insider

From 2008 to 2013, the S&P 500 returned 128%, while Berkshire (based on book value per Class A share) returned 80%.

Source: Berkshire Hathaway, Business Insider

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Among legends, Buffett has the longest track record for beating the market.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (4)

Twitter, PlanMaestro

That chart compares investors with the S&P 500 over time. You can see the longevity of Buffett's outperformance is greater than that of other great investors.

Source: Business Insider

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Buffett's net worth of $63.3 billion is greater than the combined 2013 GDP of Ghana and Cambodia.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (5)

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Ghana's 2013 GDP was estimated to be $47,928,717,949.

Cambodia's 2013 GDP was estimated to be $15,249,684,397.

Warren Buffett's wealth currently makes him the world's third-richest man.

Source: Forbes

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In 2013, Buffett made on average $37 million per day — that's more than what Jennifer Lawrence made the entire year.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (6)

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

According to Forbes, Jennifer Lawrence was the second-highest-paid actress in 2013 and she is estimated to have made $34 million that year.

Warren Buffett made $37 million per day in 2013.

Source: MarketWatch

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You could pay the college tuition of six NYU students with what Buffett made in a single hour in 2013.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (7)

@nyuniversity/Twitter

NYU is the most expensive university in the U.S. — four years there cost$247,908.

Buffett made $1.5 million per hour in 2013.

Source: CNBC

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Buffett made his first stock purchase the same year that Pearl Harbor was bombed.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (8)

U.S. Navy

Warren Buffett's first stock purchase was in 1941 — he bought three preferred shares for himself and three for his sister at $38. The stock dropped nearly 30%, and when it finally got back up to $40, Buffett sold. A few months later, the stock soared to $200.

Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7 of that year.

Source: Old School Value

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Buffett has so far donated enough money in his lifetime to build four Apple "Spaceship" Campuses.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (9)

City of Cupertino

Buffett has donated a lifetime total of $20 billion — the second-highest amount (following that of Bill Gates).

The Apple Campus is a $5 billion project.

Source: Forbes

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You could increase the annual salary of every North Korean living in Pyongyang by 50% if you took Buffett's donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and distributed it evenly to them.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (10)

Reinhard Krause / Reuters

North Korea's capital Pyongyang has a population of2.843 million.And the average North Korean makes an estimated $1,000 to $2,000 per year(so we used the number $1,500).

Buffett donated $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That means that every person in Pyongyang would hypothetically get $738.65 — an amount that is 49.2% of the annual per capita earnings in North Korea.

Keep in mind, however, that Buffett's donation is in class B shares.

Source: CNBC

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Buffett is "ready" to double his investment in renewable energy — bringing the total to an amount that could build 46 Burj Al Arabs.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (11)

Jumeirah Hotels

Buffett already has $15 billion invested in solar and wind energy, and he is prepared to commit another $15 billion.

Dubai glitzy hotel, the Burj Al Arab, cost $650 million to build.

Source: Bloomberg

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In 2014, a Singapore man bid $2.2 million for lunch with Buffett. That amount could've provided 9,746 students with a calculus textbook.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (12)

Flickr/alancleaver

In case you don't have college-age kids yet, textbooks are extremely expensive. The one that we used in our calculation costs $225.72.

Source: Omaha.com

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Berkshire Hathaway's cash balance is at $50 billion — that's equal to the entire GDP of South Dakota plus 45 Airbus A318s.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (13)

Flickr/Sebastian Bergmann

Berkshire Hathaway currently has over $50 billion in cash.

The GDP of South Dakota in 2013 was $46.732 billion.

An Airbus A318 costs $71.9 million.

Source: Bloomberg News

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If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1970, that amount would be $4.86 million higher today.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (14)

Screengrab

Berkshire Hathaway closed at $41 at the end of 1970.

On Tuesday, Berkshire Hathaway closed at$199,562.

Source:Yahoo Finance

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If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1980, that amount would be $532,165 higher today.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (15)

Berkshire Hathaway closed at $375 on Aug. 12, 1980.

On Tuesday, Berkshire Hathaway closed at$199,562.

Source:Yahoo Finance

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If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1990, that amount would be $29,785 higher today.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (16)

Georgio/Flickr

Berkshire Hathaway closed at $6,700 on Aug. 13, 1990.

On Tuesday, Berkshire Hathaway closed at$199,562.

Source:Yahoo Finance

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If you invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 2000, that amount would be $3,218 higher today.

17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (17)

Ryan Larkin/Shutterstock

Berkshire Hathaway closed at $62,400 on Aug. 11, 2000.

On Tuesday, Berkshire Hathaway closed at$199,562.

Source: Yahoo Finance

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17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Warren Buffett And His Wealth (2024)
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