He invested $10,600 in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 1980. Now, Stewart Horejsi is a billionaire

Stewart Horejsi began buying Berkshire Hathaway shares in 1980 when his family's welding-supply business was facing growing competition in Kansas. His early investment in Warren Buffett's company eventually became the foundation of a multibillion-dollar fortune.

Horejsi was running Brown Welding Supply, his family's third generation distributor of hydrogen and oxygen tanks. Although the business remained profitable, competitors were expanding into its market. So looking beyond the family business, he decided to invest in Berkshire Hathaway after friends introduced him to Buffett, who was then a relatively little-known chairman.

According to a Bloomberg report, Horejsi used cash from the family business to buy his first 40 Berkshire Hathaway shares at $265 each, spending $10,600. Two weeks later, he purchased another 60 shares at $295 apiece. A month after his initial purchase, he bought 200 more shares at $330 each.

How Stewart Horejsi Built His Berkshire Hathaway Investment

Horejsi continued buying shares while running Brown Welding Supply, eventually building his Berkshire Hathaway holdings to 5,800 Class A shares.

He began selling part of his stake in 1998 and eventually sold 1,500 shares. The following year, he sold the family welding-supply company to Airgas, a distributor of industrial gases, welding supplies and safety products.

He later accumulated control of four closed-end stock funds and co-managed them through Boulder Investment Advisers, his money-management firm.

At the time of Bloomberg's report in 2013, Horejsi said he had acquired 4,300 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares over the years. Those shares were worth approximately $745 million. His other holdings brought his estimated net worth to at least $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in 2013.

The Book That Influenced Horejsi's Investment Journey

Horejsi's interest in investing was also shaped by John Train's book, The Money Masters, which discusses the strategies of successful investors, including Buffett.

Horejsi continued putting money into Berkshire Hathaway as his family's welding business picked up. Over time, his stake grew to thousands of shares.

Reflecting on the scale of his investment, Horejsi acknowledged that he had committed a substantial amount of his money to a single company. He also expressed admiration for Buffett, describing him in an interview with Wealth Estates as one of only two people he had met who conveyed an “aura of integrity,” as per a Benzinga report.

As per Forbes estimate in 2026, Horejsi's net worth is at $4.3 billion.

Stewart Horejsi's Longstanding Connection to Warren Buffett

Horejsi's interest in Berkshire Hathaway extended beyond owning its stock. He recalled attending shareholder gatherings in the cafeteria of National Indemnity, a Berkshire insurance subsidiary in downtown Omaha. The meetings were small, with about 12 people sitting on folding chairs.

He also shared some of Buffett's preferences, including drinking Coca-Cola and eating fudge from See's Candies, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Horejsi favored Costco polo shirts and shorts and traveled on planes operated by NetJets, another Berkshire business.

He has homes in Paradise Valley, Arizona, and Mount Hood, Oregon, as well as a beachside estate in Barbados called Bellerive that once belonged to actress Claudette Colbert.

Richard Barr, Horejsi's fraternity brother at the University of Kansas, described him as a believer in Buffett and the buy-and-hold approach.

Horejsi's investment began with a series of purchases made while his family business was confronting increased competition. He continued buying Berkshire Hathaway shares over the years, built a holding of thousands of shares and retained most of that stake for decades.