Monday, March 17th, 2008
Oracle of Omaha Discloses Annual Salary
By Jennifer Yousfi
Managing Editor
For the 27th year in a row, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) Chairman Warren Buffett received an annual salary of $100,000.
In addition, Buffett received no bonus or stock options for heading up one of the most successful investment vehicles in the world, as Berkshire Hathaway profit increased 20% in 2007 and had approximately $44 billion in cash and cash equivalents at year-end.
“This guy doesn’t care about putting the money into his own pocket, the money is his way of keeping score,” Guy Spier, who has about 15% of his Aquamarine LLC hedge fund in Berkshire shares, told Bloomberg News. “Of course, we don’t know what Warren’s private fortune is. He’s always run a separate pool of money, which could well be a billion itself, totally separate from Berkshire.”
Despite his low annual salary, for the 12 months ended Feb. 11, Buffett surpassed Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) founder Bill Gates as the world’s richest man with an estimated net value of $62 billion, according to Forbes annual list of the richest people.
Not only did Buffett only draw $100k for his duties as chairman, but the filing also disclosed that he paid Berkshire $50,000 as a reimbursement for any personal use of Berkshire postage, phones and personnel, Bloomberg reported.
And Buffett is not the only Berkshire executive to forgo a lavish compensation package.
“Neither the profitability of Berkshire Hathaway nor the market value of its stock are to be considered in the compensation of any executive officer,” the proxy said. “Berkshire does not grant stock options to executive officers.”
Vice Chairman Charles Munger also earned a $100,000 salary, while Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg took home $712,500, a 7.5% increase over his 2006 pay.
News and Related Story Links:
- Bloomberg:Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Salary Remains $100,000
- Money Morning:The Oracle of Omaha Makes His Newest Pronouncement: The U.S. is in a Recession
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