Warren Buffet Biography and Photos

Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is an American investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is one of the world's most successful investors and the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.He was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $62.0 billion

Often called the "Oracle of Omaha," or "the Sage of Omaha",Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is vanishingly small compared to senior executive remuneration in comparable companies. When Buffett spent $9.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a private jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs.He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500 and today, it is valued at around $700,000. Buffett also is a notable philanthropist. In 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, he was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in The World. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell Colleg

Mr. Buffett married Susan Thompson in 1952. They had three children, Susie, Howard, and Peter. The couple began living separately in 1977, although they remained married until her death in July 2004. Their daughter Susie lives in Omaha and does charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation and is a national board member of Girls, Inc. Additionally, he allegedly had another child out of wedlock with his nanny in the early sixties, according to rumors from his native Omaha, Nebraska. The rumors, however, have never been proven or validated by Buffet himself.

In 2006, on his seventy-sixth birthday, he married his never-married longtime-companion, Astrid Menks, who was then sixty years old. She had lived with him since his wife's departure in 1977 to San Francisco. It was Susan Buffett who arranged for the two to meet before she left Omaha to pursue her singing career. All three were close and holiday cards to friends were signed "Warren, Susie and Astrid". Susan Buffett briefly discussed this relationship in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show shortly before her death, in a rare glimpse into Buffett's personal life.