Who is Howard Graham Buffett? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Age: 69 Years, 69 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Devon Goss, Howard Warren Buffett, Marcia Sue Duncan (1977 - div. -)

father: Warren Buffett

mother: Susan Thompson

siblings: Peter Buffett, Susan Alice Buffett

children: Howard Warren Buffett

Born Country: United States

CEOs Philanthropists

U.S. State: Nebraska

City: Omaha, Nebraska

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Childhood & Early Life

Howard Graham Buffett was born on December 16, 1954 to Warren Buffett and Susan Thompson. He was brought up along with his elder sister Susan and younger brother Peter in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents started living separately in 1977; however they remained married till the time his mother died suffering a cerebral haemorrhage in July 2004.

Howard was named after his grandfather and American businessman, investor, and politician Howard Buffett; and his father’s favourite professor Benjamin Graham.

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Business & Political Pursuits

Howard was inducted a County Commissioner of Douglas County, Nebraska as also Chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Authority and Development Board in 1989. He held the former position till 1992 and the latter till 1991. He also served as a member of the Board of the Commission on Presidential Debates (the CPD).

Howard was Director of Archer Daniels Midland Company from 1991 to 1995 and remained Corporate Vice President and Assistant to the Chairman of the company from 1992 to 1995. Since 1992, he serves as President of Buffett Farms and one of the directors of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. He served as a director of Coca-Cola Enterprises from 1993 to 2004.

From 1995 to 2001, he remained Director of the Board of Directors of The GSI Group. Thereafter from 2002 to 2006, he was Director of ConAgra Foods. Till October 26, 2006, he served as Director of Agro Tech Foods Ltd. He also remained Director of Sloan Implement.

Meanwhile in 1995, he became a director of Lindsay Corporation. From 2002 to 2003, he served as Chairman of the company. He later made an announcement in 2008 that he would allow to cease his term as a director of the company in January 2010. From December 9, 2010, Howard has been a Director of The Coca-Cola Company.

He served as an Auxiliary Deputy in Macon County and Shelby County in Illinois for five years. Following resignation of Sheriff Thomas Schneider, Howard served the remaining term of office as Sheriff of Macon County, Illinois. He was sworn in on September 15, 2017 and served through November 2018. Presently he serves as a Volunteer Deputy Commander of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona and as Undersheriff of the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.

During his tenure as Sheriff, he donated millions of dollars through Howard G. Buffett Foundation to different law enforcement agencies and projects across Illinois. Donations were made to buy patrol rifles and radio earpieces for the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and funds were provided to implement a Personal Patrol Vehicle Program.

Writings & Media Work

His thesis ‘The Partnership of Biodiversity and High-Yield Agricultural Production’ was published by Harvard in 1996. He penned down opinion pieces and articles for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

He has visited more than 150 countries and came up with eight books on subjects including human condition, wildlife and conservation. His 2000 released book on photography with Colin Mead titled ‘Images of the Wild’ gives information on travelling to wildlife areas in North America and Africa.

His 2001 book ‘On The Edge: Balancing Earth's Resources’ deals with conserving biodiversity, habitats and species on Earth. The following year he published a compilation book titled ‘Tapestry of Life’. It consists of portraits taken in India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Ethiopia and other countries with high poverty level and human need. Same year he came up with a book titled ‘Taking Care of Our World’, an educational book for children on ecology.

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He co-authored the 2003 published book ‘Spots Before Your Eyes’ with Ann van Dyk. It deals with history and facts on the cheetah species.

His 2005 book ‘Threatened Kingdom: The Story of the Mountain Gorilla’ gives information on habitat and challenges faced by mountain gorillas.

He received support from National Geographic for his 2009 book ‘Fragile: The Human Condition’, a documentation of life stories in 65 countries.

He and his son Howard Warren Buffett co-authored the 2013 book ‘Forty Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World’. The book, foreword of which was written by Warren Buffett, emerged as a New York Times Bestseller.

He executive produced the Orlando von Einsiedel directed British documentary film ‘Virunga’ that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, 2014. The documentary focussed on conservation and protection of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was a critical success and won several awards and nominations including an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 87th Academy Awards.

The April 3, 2018 published book ‘Our 50-State Border Crisis: How the Mexican Border Fuels the Drug Epidemic Across America’ by Howard also became a New York Times Bestseller.

He contributed as executive producer of the May 3, 2019 released documentary film ‘The River and the Wall’ on Texas/Mexico border.

Philanthropy

Howard is the CEO and Chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation that backs agricultural, conservational, humanitarian, water, nutritional and conflict/unaccompanied projects.

He is associated or remained involved with the World Wildlife Fund National Council, the National Geographic Council of Advisors, the Africa Foundation, Nebraska and Illinois Chapters of the Nature Conservancy, and the Cougar Fund. He was a founding director of the latter. He founded the International Cheetah Conservation Foundation and the Nature Conservation Trust.

The World Food Programme of the United Nations named him a Goodwill Ambassador Against Hunger in October 2007. He became a member of the Eastern Congo Initiative in March 2010.

Awards & Honours

Howard received several awards and honours in recognition to his efforts and contributions in the fields of philanthropy, conservation, agriculture and journalism. Notable ones include the Order of the Aztec Eagle Award, by the Mexican Government; the Igihango medal that he received in 2017 from the Rwandan President Paul Kagame; the Columbia University Global Leadership Award; and an honorary PhD from Lincoln College among others.

Family & Personal Life

Howard married Marcia Sue Duncan in August 1977. Same year, he started farming in his father’s property in Tekamah, Nebraska, for which his father charged him rent. He advocates for no-till conservation agriculture. He later divorced Marcia.

His only son Howard Warren Buffett was born on October 14, 1983 through his second marriage with Devon Morse. Howard presently lives in Decatur, Illinois.

Howard Graham Buffett Biography