This Day In Market History: Warren Buffett Buys First Shares Of Berkshire Hathaway

Each day, Benzinga will take a look back at a notable market-related moment that happened on this date.

What Happened?

In 1962, Warren Buffett bought his first shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A).

Where Was The Market?

The S&P 500 was setting up to close the month at 65.06 and the the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 652.

What Else Was Going On In The World?

The average annual income was about $5,556, while the dozen eggs bought for Buffett’s daily McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) McMuffin cost a mere 32 cents.

Buffett’s Berkshire Buy

By the time Buffett bought his first 2,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway, he’d already been trading about 21 years.

But his play in the former textile manufacturing company has become his most significant.

Buffett bought in at $7.50 a share, and with the Class A stock now worth $297,240, the initial, $15,000 investment is valued around $594,480,000, representing returns of about 39,631 percent.

Three years after buying his first stake, Buffett officially seized control of the firm and, by extension, its portfolio of more than 60 companies, including Geico, Duracell and Dairy Queen.

The 87-year-old Oracle of Omaha is now worth $84.9 billion and ranks No. 3 on Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest people. He’s known to spend his fortune on philanthropy, having donated more than $27 billion over the last decade, and the simple pleasures of The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO).

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Image credit: Fortune Live Media, Flickr