At six years old, Warren Buffett was no average child. While other children were playing games, Warren was buying six-packs of Coca-Cola from his grandfather's store for 25 cents and selling the individual bottles for five cents. At age 11, he bought a company's stock (for the first time) at $38 a share. They dropped to $27 a share, but he steadied his nerves and waited. When the stock rose to $40 a share, he sold them and learned an important lesson about patience, because the stock's value continued to rise—to $200!

It's difficult to believe, but this boy genius from Omaha, Nebraska, did not want to attend college; Warren's father persuaded him to go anyway. When Warren learned that two well-known securities analysts taught at Columbia Business School, he enrolled in their post-graduate economics program. One of them, Benjamin Graham, shaped Buffett’s investing future profoundly. The strategy he learned is simple: determine a company's actual worth by examining its financial data; if the value of its stock is significantly less than the company’s value, it's a good investment.

Using this method, Buffett accumulated so much wealth that at one time he surpassed Bill Gates as the world's wealthiest man. In addition, when Mr. Buffett acquires a successful business, he uses his amiable interpersonal skills to communicate with the existing managers. His plan of "management" is not to interfere with the running of the company. Instead, he maintains a hands-off approach and allows its directors to retain ultimate decision-making powers.

Despite his legendary wealth, Warren Buffett continues to live in the same, modest home. He carries no cell phone, and has no computer. He drives his own car: a common Cadillac DTS. When he finally bought a private jet for $10 million (NT$322 million), he named it "The Indefensible," for he had frequently been critical of other executives' extravagant purchases.

Buffett has long been helpful to charities by auctioning his possessions and time, and donating the money received. However, Buffett's largest philanthropic gesture met with some uncertain press. After he donated 83% of his money to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it was revealed by the LA Times and other reputable news sources that some of the Foundation's activities had glaring conflicts of interest. However, overall, the Gates Foundation appears to be sincere in its mandate and will provide an honest distribution of Warren Buffett's fortune.

六歲時的華倫• 巴菲特已非泛泛之輩。與其他仍在玩樂的孩子相比，巴菲特已經開始做生意，從祖父的商店買下6罐25分錢的可口可樂，再以單罐5分錢的價格轉賣出去。11歲時，他首次買下某公司一股38美元的股票。跌至每股27美元後，他仍沉住氣等待時機，等攀升至每股40美元後，他全數賣出，結果卻學到了應當耐心等候的教訓，因為該股價後來竟持續攀升至200美元！

儘管難以置信，但這位來自內布拉斯加州奧馬哈市的天才，其實不想上大學，最後是在父親的勸說下才入學。巴菲特得知兩位知名證券分析師在哥倫比亞商學院授課後，主動申請經濟學（碩博）研究所。而其中一位班傑明• 葛拉漢，對於巴菲特未來的投資事業具有深刻的影響力。他習得的投資策略十分簡單：檢視財務數據即可判斷一家公司的實際價值；如果公司股價遠遠低於公司價值，就是一筆不錯的投資。

巴菲特運用此方法累積鉅富，甚至一度超越比爾• 蓋茲全球首富的地位。此外，巴菲特只要收購一家成功企業，就會運用親民的人際手腕，與目前的高階主管進行溝通。他的「管理」方針並非干預公司營運，相反地，他主張不插手策略，讓董事保有最終決策權。

儘管擁有傳奇性的致富人生，巴菲特仍然深居簡出。他沒有手機、沒有電腦，自駕常見的凱迪拉克DTS轎車。當他終於買了一架一千萬美金（3.22億台幣）的私人噴射飛機，他將飛機命名為「自知理虧號」，因為他過去經常批評其他高階主管豪奢的消費行徑。

巴菲特長期以來，一直將拍賣個人物品與諮詢時間的所得捐助給慈善機構。然而，巴菲特出手最大筆的慈善作為，卻引來媒體爭議。他向「比爾暨梅琳達• 蓋茲基金會」捐出83% 的個人所得後，《洛杉磯時報》與其他可靠的新聞來源，表示該基金會的一些活動有明顯的利益衝突。不過整體而言，蓋茲基金會應會克盡職守，公正地善用巴菲特的財富。