We all know the current Warren Buffett, but was he born with a golden spoon in his mouth to become a stock god? Let's look into his family’s history.
In the 17th century, there was a wave of immigrants from Europe to the United States, and Warren Buffett's ancestors came to America.
John Buffett came to America in the 17th century. He was the first member of the Buffett family to come to the United States.
After 200 years in the U.S., the Buffett family's lineage passed to landowner Zebulon Buffett. He was so stingy and harsh, even to his family, that even his grandson, Sidney Holman, experienced this too. But Sidney Homan Buffett couldn't take it any longer and left home to start their own lives in the West. In 1867, they came to Omaha, where Sidney and his relatives came together to run the courier station.
However, they believed that there were better business opportunities, so they changed their 14th Street business and opened a grocery store selling fruits, vegetables, and a variety of household goods; this business, as opposed to the courier station, started the family's initial success, which grew into the family business.
Although the business was just a small store, with a 4-wheeled truck powered by a mule, Sidney's two sons had their hands on success.
Sidney's sons, Ernst and Frank, grew their family. Ernst married Henrietta, had three sons and a daughter, and opened another retail store. His business acumen was sharp, and after a period of time, the family's retail business took one of the top positions in Omaha.
One of Ernst P. Buffett's sons was Howard Buffett, a four-term U.S. House of Representatives member. Thanks to his grandfather's prosperous career, Howard got a good education early on and attended the University of Nebraska, where he majored in journalism. After graduating from college, he chose to work in the media instead of going into business.
Buffett's mother, Leila, was born in West Point, Nebraska, a small town in the middle of nowhere. Her father was the owner of a local newspaper. She had to care for her two sisters and help her father with his work. Leila soon learned about printing, and after school, she would work at her father's newspaper. At sixteen, she met her future husband, Howard Buffett, through an interview while job-seeking.
Buffett's parents' meeting was romantic. Leila went to the Nebraska Daily News for a job interview. Howard conducted the interview, and Leila caught his eye because of her elegance.
He asked her, "What did you study?" Leila, who had only recently graduated from high school, replied humorously, "Learning how to get married and have a family."
Howard replied humorously, "That's a bit of an impractical course." Although Howard replied this way, he had already made up his mind that he would pursue this lovely girl.
Their love flourished, and on Christmas Day, 1925, they had a simple but heartfelt wedding at West Point. Although they did not have much money initially, they moved to Omaha to work after the wedding and gave birth to Warren Buffett, the protagonist of an amazing investing story, five years later.
The lovely conversation that Buffett's parents had when they first met is a recurring theme in his life and a testament to the romance and joy of his parents' union.
Let’s see how their story unfolds in the next part of Warren Buffett's story.
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