Wow! Warren Buffett is well known as one of the top businessmen on the planet and he is probably one of the most wealthy ever too. Despite this, he continues to live in a modest home he purchased in Omaha, NE in 1958, though he has allowed himself to purchase a home in Laguna Beach as well. His only other exorbitant purchase on record is a private jet. In addition, he only takes a salary of about $100k per year as the CEO of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. However, his investment prowess and ownership in certain key companies is what has led him to have such a high net worth. Warren has promised to donate 99% of his money to charity, and due to his thriftiness he is actually able to give a whole lot. He is part of a group called The Giving Thread which is made up of rich guys like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg who have all promised to give away at least half of their fortunes over their lifetime to charity.
Most recently Warren started on this journey by giving $3.17 billion, mostly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This is a great organization that is helping to reduce poverty all over the world. Despite this large donation, Warren is still the 4th richest person in the world so he has a ways to go before he will fulfill his goal of donating 99% of his total money to charity. There are certainly plenty of millionaires and billionaires who do not see fit to donate any money at all, so it is nice to see a guy who cares so much about the world that he is willing to give billions and billions. Warren Buffett is certainly an inspiration to many who strive to help improve the world through charitable donations.
