He is known to be a legendary investor Warren Buffett He answers investors’ questions for hours each year Berkshire Hathaway Company (New York Stock Exchange: brk-a) (New York Stock Exchange: BRK-B) Annual shareholders meeting. But most of them don’t know that such was not possible in Buffett’s early days.
If it weren’t for a $100 college course he took when he was 20, the Oracle of Omaha might have been cut short. His own success.
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What to know: Buffett had an intense fear of public speaking until the age of 20, according to A a report From CNBC.
“Just thinking about it makes me physically sick. I would literally throw up,” Buffett told CNBC contributor and author of Getting There. Gillian Zoe Segal.
In his early college days, Buffett would choose certain classes to avoid having to present them in front of his classmates. Moreover, he designed his schedule so that he did not have to be in front of crowds.
He told Segal that he could hardly introduce himself when he found himself in a situation that required him to speak in front of others.
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Buffett set out to change that when he saw an ad for Dale Carnegie Public speaking course at Columbia Business School. He signed up and wrote a check to cover the costs, but soon after, he rescinded his intentions.
“I couldn’t do it. I was that terrified,” the Berkshire CEO said.
Shortly after Buffett graduated, he came across the same ad in the newspaper and proceeded to register himself again, with one major difference in his approach.
“This time, I handed the coach $100 in cash. I knew if I gave him the money I would come,” Buffett said.
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He did attend, and discovered that about 30 other people had the same problem as him. “We all had trouble pronouncing our names,” he said.
By the time he completed the 12-week course, he was ready to test his skills. He applied for a teaching position at the University of Omaha immediately, because he knew that if he did not continue, he would risk throwing away the progress he had made in his public speaking class.
“I kept doing it, and now you can’t stop me from talking,” Buffett told Segal, laughing.
The report notes that Berkshire’s CEO takes much of the credit success To public speaking class, which is high praise for someone as successful as Sibyl himself.
according to BloombergBuffett is the eighth richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $145 billion at the time of writing. His fund has historically outperformed the S&P 500, generating nearly 20% compound annual returns since Buffett took control of Berkshire in 1965.
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image: Fortune Life Media From Flickr.
Some elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and have been updated.
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This article Warren Buffett says he wouldn’t be as successful today if he didn’t take this $100 college course: ‘I was so terrified’ Originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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