How Warren Buffett's fund manager turned $70,000 into $264 million: 'In a perfect world, no one would know'

Legendary investor Warren Buffett is widely regarded as one of the greatest investors of all time. It turns out that Berkshire's investment approach can be learned and repeated, as evidenced by the stunning returns generated by one of its portfolio managers.

According to a Business Insider report, citing a late 2021 Washington Post interview, Ted Weschler, investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B ), grew his retirement account from $70,000 to $264 million in less than 30 years with a simple approach.

What You Need to Know: The huge fortune was first discovered in June 2021 when ProPublica got their hands on Weschler's tax returns. The Berkshire Hathaway portfolio manager then shared some details about how he managed to amass wealth with journalist Allan Sloan.

"In a perfect world, no one would know about this account," Westchler allegedly told Sloan in an email.

"But now that the number is known, I hope it can be beneficial by motivating new entrants to the labor market to start saving and investing early."< /p>

Weschler definitely started early, and anyone hoping to replicate the feat should do the same.

The report states that Westchler started an IRA in 1984 at age 22 and by age 27 had grown his account to $70,384 by maximizing its contributions and doubling via the employer. match.

He quit his job as a financial analyst and started his journey in private equity. Despite a rocky start with investments in Continental Health and Interlogic, his new role eventually led him to become a hedge fund manager around the turn of the century.

Related link: You'll Never Believe the "Dumbest" Stock Warren Buffett Ever Bought

Speaking with Sloan, the portfolio manager noted that all losses are simply "unmonetized lessons".

Weschler reportedly generated compound annual returns of 22% for more than a decade before joining Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2012.

He noted that he used to focus on companies that he believed were faring better than the market expected. Weschler also said he spent a lot of his time studying companies and industries to find important information that the market was missing.

For those short on time, he recommends focusing on index funds like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO. They can be very powerful tools for investors who can't track individual investments closely, he said.

But his main advice is to keep all your money in stocks and ignore anyone who tells you to do something different.

"Start early, maximize [employer] match, invest 100% in stocks, and ignore all the other noise," Westchler said.

The Berkshire director told the Washington Post he makes all his money investing in publicly available securities, suggesting anyone can do it with the right approach.< /p>

Buffett also benefited from an early start. The billionaire investor has been investing money in stocks since he was 11 years old. If you don't have the start...