Warren Buffett (born 1930) is America's most brilliant investor, compiling a year-after-year record of phenomenal returns for the shareholders of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

For example, Nikki Ross, author of The Legends of Wall Street: How Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Phil Fisher, T. Rowe Price and John Templeton Can Help You Grow Rich, has been quoted as saying, "If you handed Buffett $10,000 in 1965, you had an investment worth $51 million by year-end 1999." Buffett is one of the richest men in America, and he is a success story in the classic mold. In 2001, Forbes ranked Buffet, with a net worth of net worth of $32.3 billion, the second most wealthy person alive, right after his friendBill Gates.

Throughout it all Buffett has retained a seeming simplicity that goes along with his down-home, Midwestern roots. His associates, however, say his hayseed manner disguises a brilliant sophisticate. He shuns New York and...