The real turning point in his life though was when he was rejected by Harvard Business School and instead went to Columbia; there he met professor Benjamin Graham (author of The Intelligent Investor) who became Buffett's mentor and role model, and gave him the foundation for making investment decisions. In his book, The Warren Buffett Way, authors Hagstrom, Miller and Fisher state that Buffett is "always searching for investments where risk is eliminated or minimized" (Hagstrom, et al
To wit, Carol J. Loomis, Fortune magazine editor-at-large reports that Buffett is pledging 85% of his Berkshire stock to five different foundations (Loomis 2006)
com). Beyond the fact that Buffett is fabulously wealthy and respected for his humanity as much as for his money, his biography reflects a man who began dreaming of making a profit at the age of six (Maslin, 2008)
Just his candor and wisdom alone are a bonus for American on the global scene. In Jay Steele's book, Warren Buffett: Master of the Market, the author explains that Buffett's interest in money "grew out of the economic situation into which he had been born -- the Great Depression" (Steele 13)