Mr. Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 30, 1930. His family operated a grocery store in Omaha for 100 years (1869-1969).

Mr. Buffett is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse business activities and controlled by him since 1965. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s business activities include the underwriting of property and casualty insurance and a wide variety of manufacturing, retailing and service companies.

Mr. Buffett started out as an investment salesman and securities analyst, and early in his career, he created his own investment partnership. He rapidly emerged as an innovative businessman with simple but sound investment principles and is now recognized as the world's greatest investor.

If an investor had put $10,000 in Buffett Partnership Ltd. when it was formed in 1956 and continued that investment in Berkshire Hathaway, he would now have shares worth about $350 million.

Mr. Buffett also serves as a director of The Coca-Cola Company and The Washington Post Company, and is a life trustee of Grinnell College and The Urban Institute.

Mr. Buffett attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington D.C., Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania, and in 1950 received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska. He earned his M.S. in Economics from Columbia University in 1951.