Think You Know Warren Buffett?

As we wrote earlier this week, legendary investor Warren Buffett’s 94^th birthday will be tomorrow, Friday, August 30.

Over the decades, MILLIONS of pages have been written about Buffett, so we wanted to offer some new thoughts.

On Tuesday, we argued that the key to Buffett's success has been growth investing rather than value investing. We don’t think many folks have made that case before…

Today, we were originally going to share some great Warren Buffett quotes.

In the last six months, though, we have learned something surprising. Buffett doesn't give a good quote!

We mention this because we have been publishing quotes daily on HX Research socials (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—do you follow us?) and have compiled over 1,000 quotes from great investors.

Buffett's partner, Charlie Munger, is a quote machine. They are smart, short, funny, and often incredibly clever. He has awesome quotes!

Buffett is also smart, funny, and incredibly clever. His quotes just aren’t that great.

We published our favorite earlier this week. We like that one so much that we are going to publish it here again…

That one is a “10 out of 10”! There are some other decent ones, but they aren't spectacular as a group.

As we were looking for quotes, we started looking up facts about Buffett. THAT is where we found some fascinating stuff!

Many are well-known, but a few might surprise even the most ardent fan of Buffett.

Here they are…

1. He Made $53,000 By the Age of 16

He started making money at the age of six! He walked around his neighborhood selling packs of gum for a nickel each.

When his father became a congressman and the family moved to D.C., he delivered The Washington Post newspaper and made $175 a month—more than $3000 a month in today's dollars. He was thirteen years old at the time.

The article I read said he had made $53,000 by 16. That is an amazing $848,000 in today’s dollars. Wow!

The man was BORN to make money!

2. He Made 94% of His Wealth AFTER He Turned 60 Years Old

This is fascinating for a guy who had made almost $1 million by age 16.

At 52, he was worth $376 million, so it's not like he was sitting around doing nothing.

Since then, though, his net worth has gone through the roof! It currently stands at over $140 billion! That is the power of compounding…

Also, I just turned 52, five days before Buffett's birthday this year. I am definitively NOT worth $376 million, but that gives me some hope for the next forty years!

3. He Thought Graham and Dodd Were Dead

Buffett first attended my alma mater – the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He studied there for two years but then moved to the University of Nebraska, where he graduated at 19.

Buffett then applied to Harvard Business School and was rejected. After the rejection, he discovered that his investing idols, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, were professors at Columbia Business School.

“I wrote them a letter in mid-August,” Buffet said. "I said, 'Dear Professor Dodd. I thought you were dead, but now that I found that you're alive and teaching at Columbia, I would really like to come.' And he admitted me."

That is ONE way to fill out an application!

4. His Face Was on Cherry Coke Cans in China

I don't know that I have much to say about this one…going to let it sit right here…

5. He Loves the TV Show Breaking Bad

Everyone I know says this is one of the best TV shows of all time. Personally, I have never watched it because I don't like to watch shows that are too depressing.

My father's family is from New Mexico and lived the show, so I figure—why do I need that in my life now?

The show is too depressing for me, but Warren Buffett, "The Oracle of Omaha," and the world's most famous investor, loves it!

He has some surprises in him…

We hope you enjoyed some of these facts about Buffett that may have surprised you!

We read over a dozen articles on the subject and want to give full credit to this one.

It was by FAR the most informative and fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!