In 1977, Warren Buffett gave his youngest son Peter Peter 90,000 US dollars Berkshire Hathaway share. Peter then made a very bad decision …

When Peter Buffett turned 19 in 1977, he inherited shares worth 90,000 US dollars in his father's company. For their information, 90,000 US dollars in 1977, today is a value of around 450,000 US dollars. This is a pretty amazing amount of money for a 19-year-old! Imagine what you would have done at around half a million dollars when you were 19 years old …

Maybe not surprisingly, Peter sold the share and spent the money on his passion. Not anything of it. Everything.

Peters passion was and is music too. After heirs of 90,000 US dollars, Peter sold the shares, fell off school and followed his dream of being a professional musician.

Here is the problem.

As you may have derived through the title of this article and Peters last name, Peters father is Warren Buffett. And the shares worth 90,000 US dollars he inherited was in the Warren's Holding Company Berkshire Hathaway …

How big did Peter make a mistake?

Peter Buffett grew up and believed that he could do anything. The real privilege in his life did not come from a check from Dad. It came from love, care and belief in itself that his parents gave him. They let him find his way, make mistakes and find out how to get up and try again.

As we already mentioned, Peter inherited Berkshire Hathaway worth 90,000 US dollars on the day he was 19 years old.

To your information: In 1977 a single share of Berkshire Hathaway shares was traded for about $ 107. Therefore it is presumable that Peter has inherited around 840 shares.

Flush with cash did Peter, which many 19-year-olds could do. He sold the shares, fell from Stanford and moved to a studio apartment in San Francisco to realize his dream. After he had prepared a modest monthly budget that would buy him a few years of living, Peter spent his remaining heritage for the recording of devices so that he could make an album.

Over time, Peters dreams of being a professional musician – through hard work, did not become a handout. He has created a respected career in the world of new age and ambient music and published more than a dozen albums in large labels such as Narada and Sony Music. His compositions were presented in EMMY-coated television specialties and global advertising campaigns.

It was most best that he composed the haunting track that was used in the Fire Dancing scene by Kevin Costner's Epic “Dances With Wolves” from 1990. The score of the film won an Oscar, and although Peter did not get the Oscar himself, his contribution helped to form one of the most cult moments in the film. Here is the scene with Peters music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xspaowgcga

In every respect, Peter has an impressive career and seems to lead a very fulfilling life!

But … I know what you think. How much would it be today a value of Berkshire Hathaway worth 90,000 US dollars.

As already mentioned, a single share of Berkshire Hathaway shares would have cost around 107 USD in 1977, so that 90,000 US dollars would have been around 840 shares. Today a single share would cost them …

$ 809,808

This is not a typo. Therefore, 840 stocks would be worth …

680,238,720 USD

That's $ 680! My god! Can you imagine how regret Peter has to be felt? 90,000 US dollars could have been 680,000 US dollars !!!

Oh wait.

That is not a $ 680,000. There are $ 680 million. I think I'll be sick.

In interviews over the years, Peter has insisted that he has not regretted. Instead of having almost $ 700 million today, he has a life he loves. And whether you believe it or not, a billionaire father does not mean that Peter does not have to fight financially. At some point he had two mortgages in his house. He has to struggle with credit card debt. He drove a beaten car and still often has to collect money to organize shows.

As humans, he wanted times that he wanted the simple way out. When he was in the 20s, he turned to his father to ask for a loan. Warren declined him. At that time Peter was angry, but in retrospect he estimates the lesson that he taught him. He learned more about himself and his ability to get up and try again than he had ever done if he had had the Buffett money and sailed through life.

Peter Buffett likes to know that his success is his own and not the result of life with his father's money.

Peter finally came into a real wealth … but not from Warren. From his mother.

When Peters mother Susan died in 2004, he inherited 500,000 US dollars in Berkshire Hathaway Stock and 10 million US dollars.

1 billion dollars … with a hook

In 2006 Warren Peter and his two siblings Howard and Susan. 1 billion US dollars every. But there was a big restriction – it should only be used for non -profit work.

For years Peter and his wife Jennifer tried to find the most effective way to be philanthropes. After all, they found them Novo Foundationwhich “Supports the development of capacities in human-specific and common to create a caring and balanced world.“You have special attention to the support of young girls and young girls, especially in developing countries. Novo is dedicated to strengthening girls and women around the world.

Between 2017 and 2024, the Novo Foundation, which is given away exactly around 300 million US dollars. In 2024, the Novo Foundation released 45 million US dollars.

Oh, and if you think Peter deserves a great salary to guide this charity organization, let me stop it right there. According to Novo's latest charity, seven managers from the foundation earned over 230,000 US dollars in 2024, including the Vice President, who earned 381,000 US dollars. Peter was not one of these seven top people. In 2024, Peters content was $ 1. He also received $ 34.634 in “other compensation” for a total of total $ 34.635.

In the end, Peter Buffett did not turn 90,000 US dollars into $ 680 million – but maybe he did it in something more sensible. He built a passionate career, not out of privileges. He showed a family, followed his dreams and quietly contributed to distributing hundreds of millions of dollars to improve life around the world.

Would it be nice to have $ 680 million? Secure. But would you exchange your independence, your way, your principles – only for the remaining amount of your bank account?

Peter would not.

And if you ask him, it is the richest way to live.