Howard Graham Buffett

For Howard Graham Buffett's son, see Howard Warren Buffett.
Howard Graham Buffett
Born 16 December 1954
Spouse(s) Devon G. Buffett
Parent(s) Warren Buffett
Susan Thompson

Howard Graham Buffett (born December 16, 1954) is an American businessman, former politician, philanthropist, photographer, farmer, and conservationist.[1] He is the middle son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He is named after Howard Buffett, his grandfather, and Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's favorite professor.

Personal life

Howard G. Buffett grew up in Omaha, Nebraska with two siblings: sister Susie and brother Peter. He has been active in business, politics, agriculture, conservation, photography, and philanthropy. In August 1977, he married Marcia Sue Duncan.[2] Also in 1977, he began farming in Tekamah, Nebraska.[3] His father purchased the property for $760,000 and charged him rent.[4] He later married Devon Morse, and they had a son, Howard Warren Buffett. Buffett currently resides in Decatur, Illinois and oversees a 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) family farm in Pana, Illinois and oversees three foundation-operated research farms, including over 1,500 acres in Arizona, and 9,200 acres in South Africa.[1][5] He is an advocate of no-till conservation agriculture.[3]

Business and politics

Buffett was a County Commissioner of Douglas County, Nebraska from 1989 to 1992, Chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Authority and Development Board from 1989 to 1991, Corporate Vice President and Assistant to the Chairman of Archer Daniels Midland Company from 1992 to 1995, Director of Archer Daniels Midland Company from 1991 to 1995, Director of the Board of Directors of The GSI Group from 1995 to 2001, Director of ConAgra Foods from 2002 to 2006, Director of Agro Tech Foods Ltd. until October 26, 2006, and Director at Sloan Implement. He became a Lindsay Corporation director in 1995, served as Chairman for a year from 2002 to 2003.[6][7] and in 2008, announced he would let his term as a director expire in January 2010.[8][9]

He is, as of 1992, a director of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., and President of Buffett Farms.[6]

Howard G. Buffett has been a Director of The Coca-Cola Company since December 9, 2010. From 1993 to 2004 he was a director of Coca Cola Enterprises, the world's largest Coca Cola Bottler.[10]

In December 2011, Warren Buffett told CBS News that he would like his son Howard to succeed him as Berkshire Hathaway's non-executive chairman.[11]

Media

Buffett has published eight books on conservation, wildlife, and the human condition, and has written articles and opinion pieces for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.[12] In 1996, Harvard published his thesis, The Partnership of Biodiversity and High-Yield Agricultural Production.

The April 2014 edition of The Rotarian magazine featured an 8 page article covering a brief history of Buffett's organization and touching upon some past successes, current projects and future goals. [29]

Books

In 2000, Buffett co-produced a book of photography with Colin Mead, Images of the Wild, an information source for traveling to wildlife areas in North America and Africa.[13]

In 2001, he wrote On The Edge: Balancing Earth's Resources which focused on preserving world biodiversity, species and habitats. Former Senator Paul Simon authored the foreword.[13]

In 2002, Buffett wrote Tapestry of Life, a compilation of portraits taken in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, and other countries with deep poverty and human need.[13] Tom Brokaw authored the foreword. Also in 2002, he published Taking Care of Our World, a book that teaches children about ecology.[13]

In 2003, he co-wrote Spots Before Your Eyes with Ann van Dyk. The foreword was authored by Dr. Jane Goodall. Spots Before Your Eyes presents history and facts about the cheetah species.[13]

In 2005, he published Threatened Kingdom: The Story of the Mountain Gorilla which provides information about the mountain gorilla's habitat and the challenges facing the species.[13]

In 2009, he wrote Fragile: The Human Condition with the support of National Geographic. The foreword was authored by Shakira Mebarak. Fragile: The Human Condition is the documentation of life stories in sixty-five countries.[14][15]

In 2013, he co-wrote the New York Times Bestseller Forty Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World with his son Howard Warren Buffett.[16] The foreword was authored by Warren Buffett.[17]

Philanthropy

Buffett serves or has served on the National Geographic Council of Advisors, World Wildlife Fund National Council, Cougar Fund, Illinois and Nebraska Chapters of the Nature Conservancy, Ecotrust, and the Africa Foundation. Buffett founded the Nature Conservation Trust, a non-profit Trust in South Africa to support cheetah conservation, the International Cheetah Conservation Foundation,[18] and was a Founding Director of The Cougar Fund. In October 2007, Buffett was named a Goodwill Ambassador Ambassador Against Hunger by the United Nations World Food Programme.[19][20] He later joined the boards of the Barefoot Foundation and the ONE Campaign.[19][21] In March 2010, Buffett became a member of the Eastern Congo Initiative founded by Ben Affleck. "I joined Ben in this effort because I believe strongly in investing in sustainable solutions to humanitarian challenges," he said.[22] The following year in 2011, Buffett teamed up with the Bridgeway Foundation to fund a program.[23]

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation

As the CEP and Chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Buffett has traveled to over 130 countries to document the challenges of preserving biodiversity and providing adequate resources to support human demands. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation supports projects in the areas of agriculture, nutrition, water, humanitarian, conservation, and conflict/unaccompanied persons. The foundation focuses much of its funding on communities in Africa and Central America.[24] In 2007, the Foundation launched the Global Water Initiative with several organizations to address the declining fresh water supply and clean water to the world's poorest people.[25] In March 2014, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation(HGBF) donated USD $23.7 million (RAND 255 million),as part of a joint three-year initiative between HGBF, the Nature Conservation Trust (NCT) and South African National Parks (SANParks), to combat the poaching of Rhino in South Africa. [26]

Awards

Buffett has received the Order of the Aztec Eagle Award, the highest honor bestowed on a foreign citizen by the Mexican Government, an honorary PhD from Lincoln College and Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Penn State University.[27][28] and has been recognized by the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation in Agriculture as one of the most distinguished individuals in agriculture. He has also won the Will Owen Jones Distinguished Journalist of the Year Award, World Ecology Award, George McGovern Leadership Award, National Farmers Union Meritorious Service to Humanity Award, Columbia University Global Leadership Award, Leader in Agriculture Award from Agriculture Future of America, and Special Service Award from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development, and the International Quality of Life Award.[27][29]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.40chances.com/about-the-authors/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Alice Schroeder. Snowball. p. 450.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Buffett Turns to Farming in Africa | Voices From Africa
  4. ↑ Alice Schroeder. Snowball. p. 484.
  5. ↑ "Howard Buffett: Farming and Finance". CBS News. December 11, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "BioImages -- Howard G. Buffett", at BusinessWeek site.
  7. ↑ [Preview of] "Lindsay Manufacturing Co.(Howard G. Buffett)" at AccessMyLibrary
  8. ↑ "Lindsay Corp Key Executives"
  9. ↑ [40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World]. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=555266&privcapId=1537307. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffett-wants-farmer-son-to-succeed-him-2011-12-09?link=MW_home_latest_news
  12. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Howard-G.-Buffett/e/B001K8TXAO/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1386364461&sr=1-2-ent. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Buffettimages
  14. ↑ Fragile: The Human Condition - National Geographic Store
  15. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/FRAGILE-Condition-Howard-G-Buffett/dp/1426206178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386364409&sr=1-1&keywords=fragile+buffett. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/40-Chances-Finding-Hungry-World/dp/1451687869. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ "Howard Buffett Finds 40 Chances to Get Philanthropy Right". Bloomberg.
  18. ↑ http://www.danforthcenter.org/news-media/Noted-Photographer-and-Writer-Howard-G-Buffett-Presents-Photos-of-Hope-at-the-Danforth-Center. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 http://www.one.org/us/person/howard-g-buffett/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ Howard G. Buffett, philanthropist and environmentalist - Ambassador Against Hunger | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide
  21. ↑ http://www.barefootfoundation.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ↑ Ben Affleck Launches Initiative to Support Local Solutions in Eastern Congo - LOS ANGELES, March 22 /PRNewswire/
  23. ↑ Rubin, Elizabeth. "How a Texas Philanthropist Helped Fund the Hunt for Joseph Kony". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  24. ↑ Howard G. Buffett Foundation
  25. ↑ Global Water Initiative created in response to world water crisis
  26. ↑
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 http://www.thehowardgbuffettfoundation.org/about-hgbf/about-howard-g-buffett/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ↑ "Journalism and Mass Communications honors leader, students". University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  29. ↑ http://www.linkedin.com/in/hgbuffett. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

See also