Investing

Warren Buffett Story [Part 10] High School Entrepreneur

In the previous article, we saw how Warren Buffett helped his friends start their own businesses, and they grew as entrepreneurs back in high school.

In the same year, 1945, Warren Buffett bought a farm from his father for $1200. The money came from his savings from delivering newspapers in high school. He then rented the farm to others to earn rental income.

The pinball business during his high school years also helped him see and learn one thing: "Let capital work for him." And such a trait has already emerged in his adolescence. 

"When people were busy with their work, he would stand by and tell me about the business books he'd read," Danley says. “He had read a hundred of these books before he graduated from high school. Sometimes he asked me to give him 20 two-digit numbers to practice mental arithmetic, and Buffett got it exactly right every time!”

Because of the privilege of working with Warren Buffett's pinball business, Danley could not help but say: "I was sure of one thing: Warren Buffett must be a winner in life, because in his life growing up, he has not met a more astute person than him; he should be the most astute American I know in my life! 

Danley also recalled the letter Buffett wrote to him when they were discussing how to help him invest the money he had. Danley inherited $6,000 from his parents, who had died young, and was wondering what other good businesses they could continue to partner in, back in 1951. He was convinced that Warren Buffett was unique and different.

Even so, back in 1951, Danley made a very brave decision to invest not only his parents' estate of $6,000 but also all the assets he had saved, totaling $25,000, and decided to believe in Buffett and put it all into an alliance with Buffett's partner. Later, he bought shares of Berkshire at the same time. He didn't even sell a single share between them. He has been a long-term holder of the stock for more than 50 years, so Danley has become a very rich man because he believed in Warren Buffett. Note that from 1964 to 2018: Berkshire Hathaway's return was 1091899%.

We are all aware of the fact that Warren Buffett has gained a reputation as a mythical figure due to his beliefs, working methods, and success. Many successful entrepreneurs and tycoons in history came from a product, industry, or invention that was able to monopolize a certain industry, but only Warren Buffett used pure investment, investing in stocks and businesses. 

Instead of starting from scratch, he has been able to intervene in the middle of many businesses at the beginning or for a while and turn "half-finished" businesses that will shine in the future into the best "boutique" or "best-selling" products. No matter how the market changes, he has been able to maintain a good and resilient posture that is truly unmatched by anyone else! One man is better than a team of experts in the world, and this is why his investment and life motto is a classic for all the experts in the world who want to learn how to invest, even for ordinary people.

When Warren Buffett graduated from high school, he had already saved $5,000, his first bucket of money, which is equivalent to about $50,000 in today's currency.

Warren Buffett's high school chapter ends in this article, and the next one will share how Warren Buffett’s life was upon entering college. 

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