24 mind-blowing facts about Warren Buffett and his $84.7 billion fortune

 

Tanza Loudenback

 

 

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As a teen, he was making more money than his teachers 

delivering newspapers.

AP Photo/Nati Harnik

• Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire 
• Hathaway, has a net worth of $84.7 billion.
• Buffett is a generous philanthropist having given away
•  more than $27 billion in the last decade.
• The billionaire is known for his frugal habits, like his 
• daily McDonald's breakfast and insistence on using 
• a flip phone.

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With a net worth of $84.7 billion, "The Oracle of Omaha" is currently 

the third-richest person in the world— but he doesn't act like it.

His modest home in Nebraska is worth just .001% of his total wealth 

and he never spends more than $3.17 on his daily McDonald's breakfast.

To those who knew him from the beginning, Buffett's success comes

 as no surprise: He was picking out stocks at 11 years old and had 

amassed the equivalent of $53,000

 in today's dollars by the time he was 16.

But Buffett isn't just a master at making money — he's good at giving it 

away, too. Although hedidn't start donating until later in life at the

 insistence of his first 

wife, Buffett is now regarded as one of the most generous philanthropists 

in the world, giving more 

than $27 billion to causes in the last decade.

Inspired by a Quora thread asking "What are some mind-blowing 

facts about Warren Buffett," we rounded up 24 astonishing facts 

about the legendary investor and

 his massive fortune.

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While his elementary school classmates were 

dreaming about the major leagues and Hollywood, 

10-year old Buffett was 

having lunch with a member of the New York Stock

 Exchange and setting life

 goals.

Buffett was an early bloomer, and stayed on track.

 REUTERS/Rick Wilking

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.

Source: Business Insider

He bought his first stock at age 11.

Buffett's childhood home.

 Airbnb

He purchased multiple shares of Cities Service Preferred

 for $38 apiece.

Source: GOBankingRates

When Buffett was a teen, he was already raking 

in about $175 a month — more than his teachers

 (and most adults).

Buffett started tossing papers as a teen.

 AP Images

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.

Buffett knew how to make money from an early age.

 AP Images

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.

Harvard Business School.

 Flickr/Florian Pilz

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 n

o interview.

Source: Business Insider

His idol refused to hire him the first time he applied.

Benjamin Graham (left).

 AP Images

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.

Warren Buffett and his current wife, Astrid.

 Brendan Hoffman/Getty

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.

Omaha, Nebraska.

 Shutterstock

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.

The most high-tech gadget you'll find in his office is a land line. 

CBS News

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.

Buffett has successfully evaded technology over the years.

 Scott Olson/Getty

Source: CNN

His distance from technology leaves him time for

 bridge, which he plays about 12 hours a week.

Warren Buffett and his frequent bridge partner, Bill Gates.

 Reuters

Oftentimes, his bridge partner is Bill Gates.

Source: James Altucher

He spends 80% of his day reading.

80% of Buffett's day is dedicated to reading.

 AP Images

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.

Buffett loves his cherry coke.

 AP

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.

And he doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

 AP Images

Source: Fool

Among investing legends, Buffett has the longest 

track record for beating the market.

Buffett has crushed the market over the years.

 AP Photo/Nati Harnik

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.

Buffett took the failing textile company and turned it into a 

legendary conglomerate.

 Truth Leem/Reuters

Source: Business Insider, Markets Insider

Buffett's net worth is greater than the GDP of Uruguay.

Uruguayan soccer enthusiasts.

 REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

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.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

As of June 2016, more than 154 affluent individuals have signed 

the pledge, including Michael Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, 

and Larry Ellison.

Source: Business Insider, Fortune

Buffett has also so far donated nearly enough 

money in his lifetime to build six Apple 'Spaceship' 

Campuses, which are $5 billion endeavors.

Buffett has donated billions of dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates 

Foundation (Melinda Gates pictured right).

 Reuters

The Apple Campus, one of the last major projects Steve Jobs worked on, 

is a futuristic-looking company campus that will feature curved glass 

panels, an underground 

parking lot, a private auditorium for keynotes and product launches,

 and a 360-degree view

 of nature.

Buffett has donated nearly $30 billion — the second-highest amount 

(following that of Bill Gates).

Source: Forbes

In 2013, Buffett made on average $37 million per 

DAY — that's more than what Jennifer Lawrence 

made the entire year.

Jennifer Lawrence.

 REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

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

In July 2016, Buffett broke his own giving record 

when he donated $2.9 billion to various charities,

 including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

 and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, 

which is named for his late wife.

Every year, Buffett donates billions to charity.

 Chip Somodevilla / Getty

Source: Forbes

The multi-billionaire reportedly earns only $100,000 

a year at Berkshire Hathaway — and spends it frugally.

The Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting.

 REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Source: GOBankingRates

People are so fascinated with the legendary

 Buffett that they'll spend millions of dollars to 

eat lunch with him.

Buffett's lunch place of choice, Smith & Wollensky.

 Art Bochevarov/flickr

Buffett has been auctioning off a "power lunch" since 2000 at his 

charity event for GLIDE Foundation.

The highest bidder gets to bring up to seven people to dine with the

 steak-loving business magnate at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse

 in Manhattan, and the most recent

 winner paid $3,456,789.

Source: CNN Money

He doesn't think money equals success: 'I measure 

success by how many people love me. And the best 

way to be loved is to be lovable.'

Warren Buffett.

 AP Images

Source: James Altucher

This is an update of an article originally written by Kathleen Elkins and 

Emmie Martin.