With the skyrocketing cost of higher education and a questionable return on investment, many Gen Zers are considering alternative career paths—whether as full-time content creators, in the trades, or piecing together gig work.
That’s been a major departure from the millennial girl boss era and traditional white-collar hustle culture. But taking a different career path doesn’t mean success isn’t the endpoint. Take Howard Buffett as an example.
Warren Buffett’s middle child recently took over his father’s position as Berkshire Hathaway chairman. Warren had retired as CEO on Jan. 1, but retained his position as chairman until last week. Howard, who now effectively oversees the $1.1 trillion company, has a colorful career background, though. Most interestingly, he previously was a farmer.
He started farming in Tekamah, Neb., in 1977 on property Warren had purchased for him and leased out, and worked for various food, beverage, and agricultural companies like Coca-Cola and ConAgra in the 1990s and 2000s, according to an interview with Life Stories.
“It’s not something that you would think I would ever do,” Howard said. “It’s not something I would have thought I would ever [have] done growing up,” he joked, adding that his mother used to tell him he didn’t grow up playing with enough Tonka trucks.
Howard said he loves farming because of the challenge—and it was from the very beginning, since he rented a farm without ever having done it in his life before.
“Farming to me was totally getting outside my comfort zone,” he said. “I had no idea how to do what I was doing, but I learned it, and today it’s a huge part of what I do in my life—and it’s a huge part of what our foundation does. I think it’s a great lesson.”
Howard Buffett’s commitment to farming and philanthropy
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation was established in 1999 with a mission “to catalyze transformational change to improve the standard of living and quality of life, particularly for the world’s most impoverished and marginalized populations.” But two of its affiliated entities are largely connected to farming.
The Sequoia Farm Foundation operates research farms and ranches in Illinois, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico, and invests in applied research to improve production practices, water-use efficiency, soil management, and cover crop use for small farms in developing countries. Meanwhile, the Farmers Youth Education Foundation provides free agricultural facilities, equipment, and a learning center for youth interested in agriculture.
Howard has also made other major farming and agricultural-related philanthropic gifts, including sending more than $500 million in humanitarian, financial, and agricultural aid to Ukraine since early 2022, according to No-Till Farmer.
The learn-as-you-go approach Howard used with farming mirrors how he handled school. He had enrolled at Augustana College, but left after clashing with his roommates. He attended other schools but never graduated. In fact, none of Warren’s children ever finished college, but he never seemed bothered by it.
“I don’t think college is for everyone,” the Oracle of Omaha told students at Western University’s Ivey Business School in 2012. He said the best education is investing in yourself, which doesn’t necessarily mean going to college.
Howard went on to build a successful career spanning farming, board leadership, photography, and philanthropy—and he even served as a small-town sheriff at one point. For Gen Zers weighing whether a degree is worth the debt, Howard’s path is a reminder an alternate route can still lead to the top. In Howard’s case, it led to the top of one of the world’s most valuable companies.
