Warren Buffett
The Compounder of Omaha. Born 1930.
Who he is
Warren Buffett is the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. He took control of the company in 1965 and ran it for six decades.
Over that time Berkshire's share price compounded at close to 20% a year. The S&P 500 managed about 10%.
The compounding lesson
Buffett bought his first stock at 11 and started a business in his teens. Most of his wealth arrived after he turned 60.
That is not a comment on his skill. It is what compounding looks like when the runway is 80 years long.
How he does it
He buys businesses he understands at sensible prices and holds them for decades. He avoids debt and ignores forecasts.
He has said the stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.
What to copy
Start early and avoid big losses. Let winners run for decades rather than years.
Buffett himself tells most people to buy a low cost S&P 500 index fund and leave it alone.
In their own words
If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.
There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.
I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute.