Warren Buffett: Early Story

1) 早期强烈的赚钱欲望和学习精神

*1941: At eleven years old, Warren buys his first stock.
*1943: Warren declares to a friend of the family that he will be a millionaire by the time he turns thirty, or "[I'll] jump off the tallest building in Omaha."
*1945: Warren is making $175 monthly delivering Washington Post newspapers. At fourteen years old, he invests $1,200 of his savings into 40 acres of farmland.
*1947: In his senior year of high school, Warren and a friend purchase a used pinball machine at a cost of $25. The business is sold later in the year for $1,200 to a War Veteran.
*1947: Warren has earned over $5,000 delivering newspapers.
*1949: His savings have reached $9,800.

*1950: Buffett applies for admission to Harvard Business School and is turned down. He eventually enrolls at Columbia after learning that Ben Graham and David Dodd, two well-known security analysts, are professors.
*1951: Warren discovers Graham is on the Board of GEICO insurance. He takes a train to Washington, D.C., and knocks on the door of its headquarters until a janitor lets him in. After asking if anyone is working, he find a man on the sixth floor, who ends up being high up in the company. They talk for hours while Warren questions him on the business and insurance in general. [Buffett now owns GEICO entirely].
*1951: Buffett graduates and wants to go to work on Wall Street. Both his father [Howard] and mentor [Graham] urge him not to. Warren offers to work for Ben Graham for free but Graham refuses.
*1951: Buffett takes a Dale Carnegie public speaking course. Using what he learnt, he began to teach a night class at the University of Nebraska, "Investment Principles". The students were twice his age [he was only 21 at the time].

2) 不受他人的左右和市场的影响，坚持独立思考

* 1964: Due to a fraud scandal, American Express shares fall to $35. While the world is selling the stock, Buffett begins to buy shares en masse.
* 1965: The American Express shares which were purchased shortly before are selling for more than double the price Warren paid for the them.
* 1967: American Express hits over $180 per share, making the partnership $20 million in profit on a $13 million investment.
* 1973: Stock prices begin to drop; Warren is euphoric.

3) 不贪心、不恋栈，在最容易赚钱的高峰时期急流勇退，Leave money on the table.

* 1967: In October, Warren writes to his partners and tells them he finds no bargains in the roaring stock market of the '60s. His partnership is now worth $65 million.
* 1967: Buffett is worth, personally, more than $10 million. He briefly considers leaving investing and pursuing other interests.
* 1968: The Buffett Partnership earns more than $40 million, bringing the total value to $104 million.
* 1969: Following his most successful year, Buffett closes the partnership and liquidates its assets to his partners. Among the assets paid out are shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Warren's personal stake now stands at $25 million. He is only 39 years old.
* 1970: The Buffett Partnership is now completely dissolved and divested of its assets. Warren now owns 29% of the stock outstanding in Berkshire Hathaway. He names himself chairman and begins writing the annual letter to shareholders.

4) 面临逆境，泰然自若，Take advantage of the opportunities.

* 1974: Due to falling stock prices, the value of Berkshire's stock portfolio began to fall. Warren's personal wealth was cut by over 50%.
* 1974: The SEC opens a formal investigation into Warren Buffett and one of Berkshire's mergers. Nothing ever comes of it.
* 1987: In the immediate crash and aftermath of October, Berkshire loses 25% of its value, dropping from $4,230 per share to around $3,170. The day of the crash, Buffett loses $342 million personally.
* 1988: Buffett begins buying stock in Coca-Cola, eventually purchasing up to 7 percent of the company for $1.02 billion. It will turn out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments.
* 1989: Berkshire rises from $4,800 per share to over $8,000. Warren now has a personal fortune of $3.8 billion.