Excerpts rom : Inside the mind of a colossus, Ruth Sunderland, The Guardian

His basic principle is to behave according to his ‘Inner Scorecard’, doing what he feels to be correct, rather than using the ‘Outer Scorecard’ and measuring himself by the opinions of others.

He is indifferent to the trappings of wealth; even when he succumbed to buying a private jet for his frequent business trips, he named it ‘the Indefensible’. Thrifty and defiantly unsophisticated, he consumes only burgers, fries and cherry Coke: His rules of investment are straightforward: distrust debt; build in a margin of safety; be in there for the long term; don’t invest in something you don’t understand.

Surely anyone could do that, so why is there only one Warren Buffett? The answer is that it demands a resolute independence of mind that eludes other investors. Buffett was derided for his refusal to participate in the dotcom boom, but maintained a dignified silence until he was eventually proved right. As early as 2003, he was warning that the derivatives behind the current credit crunch were ‘weapons of financial mass destruction’; he is now buying at rock bottom prices.

At 26, when he set up his first investment partnership for family and friends, he had $174,000. At the end of last year, his personal fortune was $60bn and Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company, was valued at $200m.

Buffett unfashionably believes that moral rectitude has a financial value. He campaigned for an increase to inheritance tax in the US because he believes the rich owe a debt to society and that their children should not be automatic winners of the ‘Ovarian Lottery’.