Difference between revisions of "Warren Buffett"
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'''Warren Edward Buffett''' is an American investor, business tycoon, "[[philanthropist]]". He has a fortune of over US$78.9 billion as of August 2020, making him the world's seventh-wealthiest person.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20200815130703/https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/#4eb9041e4639</ref> | '''Warren Edward Buffett''' is an American investor, business tycoon, "[[philanthropist]]". He has a fortune of over US$78.9 billion as of August 2020, making him the world's seventh-wealthiest person.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20200815130703/https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/#4eb9041e4639</ref> | ||
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Describing himself as having "a [[Malthusian]] dread" of population growth among the poor<ref name=round/>, he was one of the participants in [[the Good Club]], a 2009 billionaire meeting discussing how to shrink the world's population. | Describing himself as having "a [[Malthusian]] dread" of population growth among the poor<ref name=round/>, he was one of the participants in [[the Good Club]], a 2009 billionaire meeting discussing how to shrink the world's population. | ||
==Official narrative== | ==Official narrative== | ||
| − | Known as the "Oracle of Omaha", Buffets has an alleged uncanny investment acumen.<ref>https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/oracleofomaha.asp</ref> | + | Known as the "Oracle of Omaha", Buffets has an alleged uncanny investment acumen.<ref>https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/oracleofomaha.asp</ref> he business community hangs on his every word. The annual meetings at Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s conglomerate, have been dubbed "Woodstock for capitalists." The corporate press treats him like a celebrity, publishing "quirky features about his bad eating habits, frugal spending, and hobnobbing with other celebrities."<ref name=nation/> |
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| + | Buffett has been the chairman and largest shareholder of [[Berkshire Hathaway]] since [[1970]]. The [[official narrative]] around the sprawling company highlights its share in many [[multinational corporations]], including junk food company [[Coca-Cola]], predatory banks like [[Wells Fargo]], [[Bank of America]]<ref name=nation>https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/special-investigation-the-dirty-secret-behind-warren-buffetts-billions/</ref>, [[Goldman Sachs]], [[GE]], the railroad [[Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation]]; and [[chemical companies]], [[mines]], retail, [[corporate media]], etc. A large income comes from smaller companies in a [[monopoly]] situations like [[Verisign]], which operates an essential backbone of [[the Internet]]: registries for the domain names .com and .net, among others; and [[Clayton Homes]], the largest mobile-home builder in the [[United States]], using high-pressure sales tactics, and issuing predatory loans swollen with hidden fees.<ref name=nation/> | ||
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| + | Buffett has a large share in much of [[Corporate media]]. He was formerly the second biggest stockholder in the [[Washington Post]], a director and a confidant of its most notable chief, [[Katharine Graham]].<ref name=guad>https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/mar/13/washington-post-warrenbuffett</ref> He relinquished his share in [[2014]], in connection wit the Graham family's sale of the newspaper to [[Amazon]]'s founder, [[Jeff Bezos]].<ref name=guad/> He had a controlling power in [[ABC News|ABC-TV]].<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/20/business/buffett-s-low-key-role-in-high-stakes-deal.html</ref> | ||
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| + | ===Taxes=== | ||
| + | {{SMWQ | ||
| + | |subjects=class struggle, capitalism, billionaires, COVID-19/Purposes | ||
| + | |text=There's [[class warfare]], all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning. | ||
| + | |source_URL=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html | ||
| + | |authors=Warren Buffett | ||
| + | |date=2006 | ||
| + | }} | ||
| − | + | In a [[2011]] ''[[New York Times]]'' op-ed, Warren Buffett asked [[Congress]] to "raise [tax] rates immediately" on very wealthy individuals like him.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html</ref> Buffett’s op-ed prompted President Obama to roll out a so-called "Buffet Rule" that would apply a minimum tax rate of 30% to all those making over $1 million a year.<ref>http://www.politico.com/story/2011/09/obama-to-urge-higher-taxes-on-rich-063756</ref> | |
| − | + | Conservative economist [[Arthur Laffer]] cast Buffett’s proposal to raise taxes on the rich as hypocritical because "Buffett shields almost the entirety of his true income from federal income taxation, and he makes clear his belief that he can do more good with his wealth than Uncle Sam.” Moreover, Laffer argued that because Buffett shields the majority of his money, the “effective tax rate on his true income would hardly budge if this ‘Buffett Rule’ were applied."<ref>http://cp-advisors.com/documents/WarrenBuffettsCallforHigherTaxesontheRich.pdf quoted in Infuencewatch https://www.influencewatch.org/person/warren-buffett/</ref> | |
In 2008, Berkshire invested in preferred stock of [[Goldman Sachs]] as part of a recapitalization of the investment bank. Buffett defended [[Lloyd Blankfein]]'s decisions as CEO of Goldman Sachs,<ref>https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/buffett-says-he-backs-goldmans-blankfein-100/</ref> as the bank was sued by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] for Securities Fraud. | In 2008, Berkshire invested in preferred stock of [[Goldman Sachs]] as part of a recapitalization of the investment bank. Buffett defended [[Lloyd Blankfein]]'s decisions as CEO of Goldman Sachs,<ref>https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/buffett-says-he-backs-goldmans-blankfein-100/</ref> as the bank was sued by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] for Securities Fraud. | ||
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As of the early [[1990s]], Buffett was believed to have played some significant role with the orphanage, perhaps in his specialty - investment advice. An inquiry with Boys Town was referred to the in-house attorney for the orphanage, who, in answer to the simple question, "What is Mr. Buffett's precise role with Boys Town?" spent 25 minutes in two phone calls, not quite denying, but also carefully never confirming, that Buffett had a role with the facility. At any rate, Buffett has not complained lately about the size of Boys Town's endowment, although it is much larger now than it was in 1973.<ref name=document/> | As of the early [[1990s]], Buffett was believed to have played some significant role with the orphanage, perhaps in his specialty - investment advice. An inquiry with Boys Town was referred to the in-house attorney for the orphanage, who, in answer to the simple question, "What is Mr. Buffett's precise role with Boys Town?" spent 25 minutes in two phone calls, not quite denying, but also carefully never confirming, that Buffett had a role with the facility. At any rate, Buffett has not complained lately about the size of Boys Town's endowment, although it is much larger now than it was in 1973.<ref name=document/> | ||
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Revision as of 05:25, 13 January 2023
 Warren Buffett        (businessman, billionaire) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Warren Edward Buffett 1930-08-30 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Nationality | US |
| Alma mater | Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Columbia University |
| Parents | • Howard Buffett • Leila Stahl Buffett |
| Children | • Susan • Howard • Peter |
| Spouse | Susan Thompson |
| Founder of | The Giving Pledge |
| Member of | Democracy Alliance, The Good Club |
| Interest of | Peter Flaherty |
| Party | Democratic |
One of the world's richest men and a passionate proponent of population reduction. | |
Warren Edward Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, "philanthropist". He has a fortune of over US$78.9 billion as of August 2020, making him the world's seventh-wealthiest person.[1]
Describing himself as having "a Malthusian dread" of population growth among the poor[2], he was one of the participants in the Good Club, a 2009 billionaire meeting discussing how to shrink the world's population.
Contents
Official narrative
Known as the "Oracle of Omaha", Buffets has an alleged uncanny investment acumen.[3] he business community hangs on his every word. The annual meetings at Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s conglomerate, have been dubbed "Woodstock for capitalists." The corporate press treats him like a celebrity, publishing "quirky features about his bad eating habits, frugal spending, and hobnobbing with other celebrities."[4]
Buffett has been the chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway since 1970. The official narrative around the sprawling company highlights its share in many multinational corporations, including junk food company Coca-Cola, predatory banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America[4], Goldman Sachs, GE, the railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation; and chemical companies, mines, retail, corporate media, etc. A large income comes from smaller companies in a monopoly situations like Verisign, which operates an essential backbone of the Internet: registries for the domain names .com and .net, among others; and Clayton Homes, the largest mobile-home builder in the United States, using high-pressure sales tactics, and issuing predatory loans swollen with hidden fees.[4]
Buffett has a large share in much of Corporate media. He was formerly the second biggest stockholder in the Washington Post, a director and a confidant of its most notable chief, Katharine Graham.[5] He relinquished his share in 2014, in connection wit the Graham family's sale of the newspaper to Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos.[5] He had a controlling power in ABC-TV.[6]
Taxes
“There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.”
Warren Buffett (2006) [7]
In a 2011 New York Times op-ed, Warren Buffett asked Congress to "raise [tax] rates immediately" on very wealthy individuals like him.[8] Buffett’s op-ed prompted President Obama to roll out a so-called "Buffet Rule" that would apply a minimum tax rate of 30% to all those making over $1 million a year.[9]
Conservative economist Arthur Laffer cast Buffett’s proposal to raise taxes on the rich as hypocritical because "Buffett shields almost the entirety of his true income from federal income taxation, and he makes clear his belief that he can do more good with his wealth than Uncle Sam.” Moreover, Laffer argued that because Buffett shields the majority of his money, the “effective tax rate on his true income would hardly budge if this ‘Buffett Rule’ were applied."[10]
In 2008, Berkshire invested in preferred stock of Goldman Sachs as part of a recapitalization of the investment bank. Buffett defended Lloyd Blankfein's decisions as CEO of Goldman Sachs,[11] as the bank was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for Securities Fraud.
Population reduction
Buffett is a passionate supporter of population reduction. Buffett has put time and energy as well as a large amount money into this issue.
He and his investment partner and fellow donor Charlie Munger were quite involved in People v. Belous, a 1969 case paving the way for abortion in California on privacy grounds, which was cited during the Roe v. Wade debate. . After abortion was allowed in California but still illegal in most states, they set up a "church" which they dubbed the "Ecumenical Fellowship," and used it as a kind of underground railroad to transport women to Los Angeles and other cities for quick abortions. [2]
He founded the Warren Buffett Foundation in 1964[2]. It has mainly focused on [[abortion], contraceptives family planning, and on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.[12] It was renamed the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, after his wife who died in 2004. The Buffett Foundation is known for its "secrecy...often appearing under grant acknowledgements only as 'an anonymous donor.'"[13]
In 2006, he announced that he would give 85% of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as he believed that the Gates Foundation would be able to use his money effectively.[14] The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is still the third-largest family foundation in the country, behind only the Bill & Melinda Gates and Ford foundations.[15]
The foundation lists hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to groups advocating radical population reduction. Negative Population Growth, the Association for Voluntary Sterilization, Planned Parenthood[16], the Population Council[17] and Population Institute, the Sex Information and Education Council, and Federal American Immigration Reform.[18]; and abortion promoters such as Marie Stopes International, NARAL, National Abortion Federation, Catholics for a Free Choice, Abortion Access Project, Center for Reproductive Rights, and dozens of other such advocates. After examining his foundation’s IRS filings, the Media Research Center reported that Buffett’s grants to abortion groups just from 1989 to 2012 (with the tax returns from 1997 to 2000 missing) totaled at least $1.3 billion.[19] In the 1990s, the Buffett Foundation helped finance the development of the chemical abortion drug RU-486.
In 2009, he founded The Giving Pledge together with Bill Gates, whereby several dozen billionaires get together for conferences, to jointly spend their money on "philanthropy" under the de facto leadership and guidance of Bill Gates. The Pledgers promises to "give away" 50% of their fortune (although this can be misleading, as philanthropy can be both a tax dodge and a loss leader, plus a powerful political tool). Starting in 2006, Buffett pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune "in his lifetime or at death",[20], essentially handing his money over to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation when he dies.
The Buffett Foundation is also a Clinton Foundation donor and a Democracy Alliance partner.[21]
Personal life
He married cabaret singer Susan Thompson in 1952 and lived in their hometown of Omaha for more than two decades. In the late ’70s, the duo entered into an unusual arrangement — they remained married, but Susan moved to San Francisco. She also introduced Warren to the woman who would become his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, a waitress at a nightclub[22], whom he married decades later after Susan’s death.[23]
Franklin scandal
Omaha, Nebraska was the center of the Franklin child prostitution ring. It was used by the US deep state for purposes including rewards, profit and especially sexual blackmail from 1988-1991. It was partially exposed, and involved among many other elements the Catholic orphanage Boys Town, the bank Franklin credit union and politician Larry King.
Larry King is/was a multi-millionaire businessman and conman who was closely involved in the Franklin child prostitution ring. One of his earliest boosters was Susan, the first wife of Warren Buffett. Susan Buffett was a volunteer at the Franklin credit union, managed by King, in its early days. According to the Lincoln Journal-Star of March 19, 1989, King "liked to tell the story of a woman coming to the credit union to see him and being old to return at 7:00 the next morning because he was so busy. The woman was Susie Buffett, wife of billionaire Warren Buffett, and she did come back to offer her help at the credit union."[22]
For years, it has been part of Larry King lore in Omaha, that the Buffetts hosted a tenth wedding anniversary party for Larry King and his wife Alice.King returned favors, by hosting a fundraiser for Buffet's son Howard, when Howard ran for Douglas County com-missioner.[22]
Warren Buffett may have done some more private socializing with Larry King, if a former Omaha city employee is correct in his report, that when Larry King was crowned "Queen" at The Max gay bar, Warren Buffett was his escort. "This is what his cousin Barbara Webb told me," said the source. "She said the people, they were mad, because Larry brought his son and his wife there."[22]
In 1972, Warren Buffett executed a maneuver around Boys Town, which is not fully understood to this day. His own Sun newspaper ran a series of articles, that targeted Boys Town for having too large an endowment. The Sun wrote, "members of the board of directors of Father Flanagan's Boys' Home generally seem little concerned that the institution has amassed a net worth of more than $200 million while going to the public twice a year with a plea of poverty." Of the cited $200 million, $175 million was the "liquid endowment."[22]
As of the early 1990s, Buffett was believed to have played some significant role with the orphanage, perhaps in his specialty - investment advice. An inquiry with Boys Town was referred to the in-house attorney for the orphanage, who, in answer to the simple question, "What is Mr. Buffett's precise role with Boys Town?" spent 25 minutes in two phone calls, not quite denying, but also carefully never confirming, that Buffett had a role with the facility. At any rate, Buffett has not complained lately about the size of Boys Town's endowment, although it is much larger now than it was in 1973.[22]
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200815130703/https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/#4eb9041e4639
- ↑ a b c https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/buffett-billions-for-abortion/
- ↑ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/oracleofomaha.asp
- ↑ a b c https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/special-investigation-the-dirty-secret-behind-warren-buffetts-billions/
- ↑ a b https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/mar/13/washington-post-warrenbuffett
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/20/business/buffett-s-low-key-role-in-high-stakes-deal.html
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html
- ↑ http://www.politico.com/story/2011/09/obama-to-urge-higher-taxes-on-rich-063756
- ↑ http://cp-advisors.com/documents/WarrenBuffettsCallforHigherTaxesontheRich.pdf quoted in Infuencewatch https://www.influencewatch.org/person/warren-buffett/
- ↑ https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/buffett-says-he-backs-goldmans-blankfein-100/
- ↑ https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity1.fortune/index.htm
- ↑ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/abortion-research-buffett/
- ↑ https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity2.fortune/index.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150731170213/http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/topfunders/top100giving.html
- ↑ https://capitalresearch.org/article/warren-buffetts-foundation-has-poured-4-billion-into-pro-abortion-advocacy/
- ↑ https://www.grantmakers.io/search/grants/?query=Population%20Council
- ↑ https://archive.org/stream/TheFranklinCover-upByFormerGreenBeretJohnDecamp/the_Frankklin_cover-up_-_ebook_djvu.txt
- ↑ http://mrc.org/articles/warren-buffett-billion-dollar-king-abortion
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200920004620/https://money.cnn.com/2010/06/15/news/newsmakers/Warren_Buffett_Pledge_Letter.fortune/index.htm
- ↑ http://freebeacon.com/politics/warren-buffett-funded-group-signs-on-as-democracy-alliance-partner/
- ↑ a b c d e f Document:The Franklin Cover-up
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150731170213/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/warren-buffett-s-family-secretly-funded-a-birth-control-revolution
