Howard Buffett

Howard Homan Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 13, 1903, and attended public schools.⁠[1]

He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1925.⁠[1]

As editor of the Daily Nebraskan, he hired Leila Stahl when she applied to write for the student newspaper. They later married; Warren Buffett was their second child.⁠[2]

Howard Buffett entered the investment business in 1926 and subsequently operated in Omaha.⁠[1]

Their son Warren Buffett was born in Omaha on August 30, 1930. Howard and Leila had three children, with Warren the middle child.⁠[3]

Howard's securities business exposed his son Warren Buffett to stocks early. Warren recalled in 2005 that his interest began at about seven, when he visited his father's office, read books and watched stock quotations, before their New York trip.⁠[4]

He served on the Omaha Board of Education from 1939 to 1942.⁠[1]

In 1940, Howard took ten-year-old Warren Buffett to New York by train. At Goldman SachsGoldman SachsGoldman Sachs is an American financial services group headquartered in New York whose businesses include investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management. It traces its origins to the commercial paper business Marcus Goldman founded in 1869; it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 under the ticker GS and became a bank holding company in 2008. David Solomon serves as chairman and chief executive officer.Open the full entry, Sidney Weinberg received them for about half an hour. Weinberg asked which stock Warren liked, an exchange Warren remembered throughout his life.⁠[5]

On March 10, 1942, eleven-year-old Warren Buffett asked his father to buy three shares of Cities Service preferred stock. Howard executed the purchase the following morning at $38.25 a share, as Warren recounted at the 2018 annual meeting.⁠[6]

In 1942 he won election to the U.S. House from Nebraska’s second congressional district.⁠[7]

A Republican, he served in the 78th, 79th and 80th Congresses from January 3, 1943, to January 3, 1949. He lost his reelection bid in 1948.⁠[1]

Howard Buffett opposed an American role as a global military policeman, favoring persuasion and example to advance his ideals. He argued that overseas military intervention could also undermine liberty at home.⁠[8]

In Human Freedom Rests on Gold Redeemable Money, he argued that allowing people to redeem currency for gold would restrain government monetary expansion and spending while protecting economic independence. The essay linked monetary arrangements to individual liberty.⁠[9]

Elected again in 1950, he served in the 82nd Congress from January 3, 1951, to January 3, 1953. He did not seek renomination in 1952 and returned to business. His four House terms were separated by a two-year interruption.⁠[1]

The August 1951 Northwestern Banker recorded that Omaha investment banking firm Buffett & Company had become Buffett, Falk & Company, with Howard Buffett and Carl Falk among its leading officials.⁠[10]

Warren Buffett worked as an investment salesman at his father’s Buffett, Falk & Co. from 1951 to 1954 before joining Graham-Newman Corp. in New York as a securities analyst.⁠[11]

Howard Buffett died in Omaha on April 30, 1964, and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.⁠[1]

Speaking with Ivey Business School students and faculty, Warren Buffett credited his father’s unconditional love as an important source of support. He recalled struggling after moving to Washington at 13: his father challenged his behavior while making clear that his support endured.⁠[12]

U.S. House of Representatives historical archive: official biography and congressional service of Howard Homan Buffett: https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/10115 (opens in a new window).⁠[1]